HobbsDailyReport.com
BOONE – Having a Castle in your lineup is apparently the way to go.
Watauga High got nearly 350 yards of total offense from quarterback Anderson Castle on Friday night and outlasted visiting Hickory 49-42 in Northwestern 3A-4A football.
He ran for 285 yards and completed a pass for 59 to lead the Pioneers (6-1, 2-1) to their fourth straight win over the Red Tornadoes (4-4, 1-2).
WATAUGA 49
HICKORY 42
The third victory in that stretch came last season at Hickory, when quarterback Hamilton Castle led the Pioneers to a 49-13 victory with more than 300 yards of total offense (see graphic below).
Anderson Castle — who came in unofficially needing 10 yards to reach 1,000 in total offense this season — got that and more.
Watauga jumped to a 14-0 lead on two 1-yard TD runs by Bryce Satterfield and had doubled its lead by the first three minutes of the fourth quarter on a 10-yard TD run by Satterfield.
Hickory trailed 49-28 after Anderson Castle’s 7-yard scoring run with about 90 seconds to play, and the Red Tornadoes ignited at that point.
Scoring twice in 32 seconds, Hickory closed within seven points after quarterback Derrien Phillips ran 4 yards for a score and Jaelin Byrd scored on a 4-yard run.
When Hickory tried an onside kick in hopes of getting one more possession, it was Anderson Castle who fielded the kick and enabled the Pioneers to end it.
Watauga twice made long drives to add to its lead earlier, going 80 yards on 12 plays for a score and also driving 80 yards – on 11 plays – for Satterfield’s 10-yard run and 42-21 lead with nine minutes, 52 seconds left.
Phillips led Hickory with 18 carries for 120 yards and two TDs, and Byrd finished with three TDs and 81 rushing yards on 13 carries.
Stafferfield, playing his second game since missing the Pioneers’ battle with South Caldwell, had 29 carries for 159 yards for his fourth 100-yard game of the year.
The game featured 834 yards of total offense, 503 by Watauga.
Each team had two turnovers, at the Pioneers lost two fumbles and Phillips was intercepted twice and held to 101 yards passing (he came in with 1,347 unofficially).
Watauga shares second place with Freedom and West Caldwell as it heads into a league game next Friday at 7:30 p.m. at St. Stephens.
Hickory returns to Barger Stadium next Friday to face West Caldwell with a 7:30 p.m. kick off.
WATAUGA’S WIN STREAK
Watauga High has four straight wins over Hickory in varsity football. A look at the previous three victories:
Year Score Location Game star
2016 Watauga 49-13 Hickory Hamilton Castle, 310 total offense, 5 TDs
2015 Watauga 62-19 Watauga Evan Suggs, 243 yards rushing, 6 TDs
2014 Watauga 48-13 Hickory Evan Suggs, 250 yards rushing, 2 TDs
SOURCE: HobbsDailyReport.com research/files.