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WHS Football – With New Coach Habich – Beats Alexander Central 34-12 Last Week, Plays Ashe Tonight

By Mark S. Kenna

Aug. 30, 2013. Last week, the Watauga High School Pioneers landed its first win of the season over Alexander Central. Tonight, the Pioneers play away against the Ashe County High School Huskies.

Without a clutch defensive stop in the third quarter, the 34-12 victory could not have been solidified. 

Habich when he was coaching for Fuquay-Varina High School.
Habich when he was coaching for Fuquay-Varina High School.

“We turned the ball over on our 35-yard line,” Ryan Habich, new head coach for Watauga High School football, said. “Then our defense shut them out, only being up six points there in the third quarter—that defensive stop is one of the hardest things to do in high school football.”

Tonight, the Pioneers will go to West Jefferson to play the Huskies. The game starts at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re really excited to have coach Habich here,” Tom Wright, athletic director for Watauga High School, said.  “The team showed a lot of discipline during the ball game. We hope to carry that through this season.”

In the previous five years, Habich’s teams at Fuquay-Varina posted a record of 50 wins and 14 losses and won three 4A conference championships, including advancing to the final four in the 4 AA East in 2009.  He was named the Tri 9 Conference Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2011

“I’m looking to build a program where we’re consistently competing at a high level,” Habich said. “You do that by building a good foundation.”

Habich received the coaching position in April.  He was one of 89 applicants, and was eventually chosen from the seven selected for an interview.

Want to know more about Watauga High School Football?  Click here.

A photo from last year’s football season, photo courtesy of Lifetouch Photography