BLACKSVILLE, W.Va. — Clay-Battelle will enter the 2015 football season following its best year in school history, finishing at 11-2 and earning a spot in the Class A semifinals for the first time.
The Cee Bees fell to St. Marys in those semifinals 20-14.
“It was magical,” said veteran Clay-Battelle coach Ryan Wilson. “It was the best the school has ever done. The whole team was a very special group and tight-knit. They did everything right, it was team first and all about winning. It was a tremendous run for us.”
The Cee Bees graduated 13 seniors from that 2014 team and will have some inexperience this year surrounding veteran all-state senior quarterback Jarret Hockenberry.
Hockenberry completed his junior year 97 of 166 through the air for 1,830 yards, 22 touchdowns and eight interceptions — he added another 651 rushing yards and 10 more touchdowns on the ground as well.
“He’s a big kid at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds and has a lot of athletic ability to go along with it,” Wilson said. “He’s worked extremely hard in all of the off-seasons to get stronger and faster – his arm strength is tremendous. It does help as a coach to have that leadership of him back there and putting the ball in his hands.”
Senior Zack Bane, who played mostly on defense last year, will step into more of a prominent role at running back this season, while Devin Webber will do the same at receiver. Seniors Tanner Six and Tristan Shriver return along the offensive line.
“The guys are good in our senior class and they got some good playing time in the past couple of seasons,” Wilson said. “But we’re also looking at our young guys. They’re not real big, but of what I’ve seen this summer, their work ethic is tremendous and they’re very coachable.”
The Cee Bees will have a few changes to their schedule in 2015 as St. John Central (OH), Parkersburg Catholic and Van have been replaced with matchups against seven-win Valley (Fayette), defending state champion Williamstown and Barnesville (OH).
2014 playoff participants Bishop Donahue and Notre Dame are also back on the schedule, along with a regular season finale against 2013 champion Madonna, looking to rebound from a disappointing 2-8 2014.
“Our schedule is loaded this year,” Wilson said. “They’re all tough games. We’ll have to bring our ‘A’ game every week, it’ll be a huge challenge for us. But this group of kids is showing me they’re up for it.”
| CLAY-BATTELLE 2015 Football Schedule |
||||||||
| 1 | 08/28/15 | 07:30PM | H – | VALLEY (Fayette) | – | |||
| 2 | 09/04/15 | 07:30PM | A – | MIDLAND TRAIL HIGH SCHOOL | – | |||
| 3 | 09/11/15 | 07:00PM | A – | BARNESVILLE | – | |||
| 4 | 09/18/15 | 07:30PM | H – | WILLIAMSTOWN | – | |||
| 5 | 09/25/15 | 07:30PM | H – | VALLEY (Wetzel) | – | |||
| 6 | 10/02/15 | PM | H – | OPEN | – | |||
| 7 | 10/09/15 | 07:30PM | H – | Bishop Donahue High School | – | |||
| 8 | 10/16/15 | 07:00PM | A – | CAMERON | – | |||
| 9 | 10/23/15 | 07:00PM | A – | PADEN CITY HIGH SCHOOL | – | |||
| 10 | 10/30/15 | 07:30PM | H – | NOTRE DAME | – | |||
| 11 | 11/06/15 | 07:30PM | H – | MADONNA | – | |||
| wins: 0 lost: 0 ties: 0 | ||||||||
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