By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com
Often times when Devan Corum was throwing passes to Travis Oliver on the jayvee level, when they were sophomores, they could not be stopped.
Corum had a varsity-like arm and it seemed nobody could cover Oliver. Whenever the Pioneers needed a big play, it was almost like coach Pete Hardee would just have Oliver go out for a pass and have Corum find him.
Last season, reality, otherwise known as varsity football, struck both of them. Neither of them had the type of season they enjoyed on the jayvee level.
Now it seems reality is striking the rest of the Northwestern 4-A/3-A Conference. Corum leads the league in passing, completing 77 of 176 passes for 1,258 yards with 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Not surprisingly, Oliver is his favorite target with 28 catches for 675 yards, though Trey Kavanaugh has also been productive with 26 receptions for 367 yards and a touchdown.
But Oliver has emerged as the team's deep threat. He averages 24.1 yards per catch and has scored eight touchdowns. He also has a long reception of 84 yards.
Corum hooked up with Oliver five times for 113 yards last Friday in a 34-17 Watauga victory over Hickory. Overall, he completed 7-of-11  passes for 122 yards.
Corum also ran for 124 yards on 28 carries despite being sacked two times, including on Watauga's first pass play of the game.
"Devan had a spectacular night with (246) yards of offense," Pioneers coach Tim Pruitt said.
Corum's second touchdown pass to Oliver, a 28-yarder thrown over triple coverage, converted a fourth down for the Pioneers. Pruitt said even if the ball had been intercepted, the Tornadoes would have gotten the ball back on the 20-yard line, so there was little to lose when the Pioneers attempted a fourth-down pass into the end zone.
Corum made the play work by throwing the ball where only Oliver could catch it.
"On that play, I saw across the middle, I saw the linebacker dropping under him," Corum said. "To be honest, with that throw, I was throwing back of the end zone to get it out. I was trying to get away, just throw it to the back of the end zone to the back pylon.
I've been throwing with him forever, so you know, it was just timing."
"One time, I think on the second touchdown, (the defender) kind of knocked me into the ball," Oliver said. "I probably wouldn't have got it if he doesn't knock me into it, but I still give credit to Devan. I had three people on me and he threw it right in the middle of them."
Corum and Oliver worked on all summer getting their timing down. The two were aware that they had to be on the same page going into fall camp if Watauga was going to have a solid passing game.
It all worked against an inexperienced Hickory secondary. The third touchdown the two combined to score was originally supposed to be a running play. However, Pruitt noticed that the Tornadoes had put in a backup cornerback, who had lined up against Oliver.
"On the third one they had a backup corner in," Corum said. "We had a run called and coach saw that he was in so we changed the play and executed."
The play was set up by a Hickory fumble that gave the Pioneers the ball at the Hickory 28-yard line. Oliver thought the Pioneers might run the ball and chew up some clock in the process.
"I figured after the second score we'd just run the ball," Oliver said. Of course they fumbled and we converted it."
It gave the Pioneers a 27-10 lead and was the beginning of the end of the Tornadoes' chances of winning the game. A Baker Stanley 8-yard touchdown run make it 34-10, and was the final nail in Hickory's coffin.
Watauga opened the game with a 16-play, 95-yard drive that included a 31-yard completion that Oliver had to make a diving catch to complete. It converted a third-and-10 and gave the Pioneers a first down at the Hickory 38-yard line.
"I thought a real big play was the first third down and 10," Pruitt said. "We ran a route that (Corum) had got one read and if the free safety does this, then he does that. That's a lot of our passing game. Dana Bible, the offensive coordinator at N.C. State said that he doesn't try to do too much. It's either, or, and he coached Matt Ryan (at Boston College). Just throw it to him, or throw it to him. Don't come out and try to read five guys."
It was the just the second time the Pioneers had ever beaten Hickory and the first time since 1965. The win also broke a string of 12 straight Watauga losses to the Tornadoes, who traditionally have one of the strongest programs in Western North Carolina.
Those facts weren't lost on Oliver.
"It was a great win for us, especially for the fans and the community. The can be proud with our win tonight," he said.