Published: December 01, 2007 12:44 am      

Title nine

Bluefield holds off Mavericks

WHEELING — The ninth state football championship for the Bluefield Beavers was earned yard-by-yard Friday night against one of their toughest opponents of the 2007 campaign, the James Monroe Mavericks.

It took a shutdown defense and a second-half comeback effort from the talented Bluefield offense to rest a 20-12 win from their southern-border neighbors on the turf at Wheeling Island Stadium.

Bluefield Head Coach Fred Simon said “Boy what a game! We’re very happy to be leaving this way, and happy to get the win tonight.”

Bluefield quarter back Will Cole said “It feels awesome. I’ve just got to thank God and thank my teammates. It’s a great feeling.”

James Monroe Head Coach David Witt said “We battled out daggoned rear ends off. That’s what we do every Friday night, and that’s the way we come to play. Their athleticism caught up to us on a couple of plays in the second half, and that was basically the difference in the ball game.

“They’ve probably got six kids on the field who are faster than our fastest one. They were able to shake them loose a couple of times.”

The Mavericks moved the ball on the game’s first eight plays, covering the last 25 yards on a pass from Taylor Robertson to Ernie Tincher, who darted into the corner of the end zone.

Tincher said “Taylor made a good throw, and the defender was right there. It happened to fall right in my lap.

“It was definitely big, to get on the board first, just kind of a momentum swing to get the game started off.”

Logan Ray’s extra point kick bounced off the right upright and was no good.

Bluefield owned the ball for just two plays before Josh White of James Monroe intercepted Cole’s first pass attempt. Ray hit a 22-yard field goal on the Mavs’ next possession and the score was 9-0.

It didn’t stay that way long. In four plays, Bluefield closed the gap, calling Shaun Brooks’ number three times. Brooks dashed 51 yards to the goal line and with 2:58 left in the first quarter, Asher Sexton’s kick produced 9-7 score.

The defenses dug in, and the next points came on a 37-yard field goal by Ray with 6.8 seconds left in the first half. Ray had been 0-for-5 on field goal tries coming into the game. The teams left the field with the Mavericks ahead 12-7.

The game’s key play came midway through the third quarter, when Cole hit Chase Joyner on a 57-yard touch down connection. Sexton’s kick gave the Beavers a 14-12 lead.

The final score came on the next Bluefield possession. Cole popped the ball to Ansel Ponder on the right sideline and he turned on the jets, scoring on another 57-yard pass play. The point-after snap was bobbled, and Sexton’s rushing attempt with the ball failed.

Ponders said his touchdown “was something new we put in for this game, and I came through for my team in the second half.”

Simon said “The first half, we didn’t get the ball much. They did a nice job of keeping the ball away from us. But in the second half, we did a little better job.”

Ponders said “We just played hard out there, and we stayed focused.”

As the clock ticked away, the Mavericks were forced to go to the air to try to get the tying score. Simon said “they’re not used to passing. It helped us.”

Cole said that James Monroe “played tough the whole game. We were determined we weren’t going to loose this game.”

Tincher said “We came up here and did what we set out to do — give everything and let the chips where they may ... somebody’s got to win, somebody’s got to lose, and it just so happened tonight that it was us.”

Brooks was the games leading rusher with 165 yards on the ground. Robertson added 121 yards rushing for the Mavericks and passed for 104 yards, completing 6 of 14 passes. Cole completed 5 of 8 passes for 122 yards.

Ponder had 60 yards receiving and Joyner had 57. Tincher caught 3 passes for 62 yards for the Mavericks.

James Monroe dominated the time of possession, keeping the ball for 29:23 but Bluefield held the edge in total yardage, 367-308.

—Contact Tom Bone at tbone@bdtonline.com



Bluefield 20, James Monroe 12



James Monroe (12--2)........9 3 0 0 — 12

Bluefield (13-0)...................7 0 7 6 — 20

First quarter

JM - Ernie Tincher 2 5 pass from Taylor Robertson (kick failed) 8:05

JM - Logan Ray 2 2 Field goal, 5:05

BHS - Shaun Brooks 5 1 run (Asher Sexton kick) 2:58

Second quarter

JM - Ray 3 7 field goal, 0:06

Third Quarter

BHS - Chase Joyner 5 7 pass from Will Cole (Sexton kick) 7:28

BHS - Ansel Ponder 5 7 pass from Cole (Run failed) 2:09

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Team Statistics

First Downs: JM 19, BF 11. Rush-Yards: JM 54-204, BF 32-245. Pass Yards: JM 104; BF 122. Total Plays-Yards: JM 70-308; BF 40-367. Comp-Att-Int: JM 6-16-1; BF 5-8-1. Fumbles-Lost: JM 0-0, BF 2-2. Punts-Avg: JM 4-29.5; BF 2-33.5. Penalty-Yards: JM 5-25, BF 4-31. Time of Possession JM 29:23; BF 18:37. Int-Return: JM 2-34, BF 1-6.

———

Individual Statistics

Rushing: JM—Robertson 32-121, Kisiel 13-57, Tincher 8-31, Frazier 1-(-5). Bluefield—Brooks 13-165, Lilly 6-28, Ponder 1-28, Bowes 8-24.

Passing: JM—Robertson 6-14-1-104-1, Tincher 0-2-0-0-0; BF—Cole 5-8-2-122-2.

Receiving: JM—Tincher 3-62-1, Frazier 2-12, Ray 1-30; BF—Ponder 3-60-1, Joyner 1-57-1, Brooks 1-5.