Published: August 28, 2008 08:58 pm            

Beavers must play to potential

BLUEFIELD — Winning would be nice, but Fred Simon has other goals for the Bluefield Beavers tonight.

“You want to win, but that’s not the ultimate goal,” said Simon, in his 22nd year as Bluefield’s head coach. “The ultimate goal is that your players play up to their potential.”

They’ll have to do that against Graham in what is regarded as one of the top high school football rivalries in America. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m., with a crowd of more than 10,000 expected to fill Mitchell Stadium.

Nerves will definitely be in evidence, but Simon doesn’t figure they’ll last long.

“I think that is just normal with kids, but after a couple of plays, those butterflies are gone and that’s the way it is for everybody,” Simon said. “Once the popping begins, the nerves kind of cease to go.”

It’s all part of the 82nd edition of this rivalry, with the Beavers leading the series 59-20-2.

“It’s neat, the excitement of rolling out there in front of all those fans that come and support both of our programs,” said Simon, whose Beavers won last year’s meeting 26-12 . “It is just something that doesn’t happen much in high school, and even on a small college level you don’t get this type of excitement.

“It’s really neat to be fortunate enough to be able to go out and perform in front of everybody like we can. We really look forward to it and it is something, it is a special game.”

Bluefield enters this season as the defending Class AA champions, finishing 13-0 and capturing the school’s ninth state title. The Beavers also start this season at the top, having been picked by the state’s media as the top Class AA team in West Virginia.

“Our players have worked hard and so have our coaches and we are very proud when they consider us to be put at the top,” Simon said. “I would rather be put there than at the bottom because of how hard we work and the proud tradition we have here.

“I like it, but it doesn’t mean anything. We’re just going to work to get better, but we are happy to be there.”

Much of that state championship team has departed, but the cupboard isn’t bare, not with Will Cole, Cody Wassum Jake Lilly and Marcus Patterson returning for the Beavers on both sides of the ball.

“I think we have a balanced offense and that’s what your team is all about so I look forward to that,” Simon said. “I just hope our defense will play strong and hard and our special teams will do well.

“It takes all three to be successful and those are questions we won’t know until we get going.”

The biggest question for Bluefield entering the season focused on the offensive line. All five starters graduated, and they’ll be replaced by junior tackle John Gibson and a quartet of sophomores in center Kory Saddler, guards Keith Ferguson and Brenten Brooks and tackle Parker Perdue.

“They’re giving good effort, we’re not where we need to be yet, but we’re definitely giving good effort,” Simon said. “Once we learn everything we’ve got to do then I think we’ll be all right...

“As a coach you always have a job to do and that is to teach players what to do. That’s what I like about the job is to teach your players to get better.”

Cole returns at quarterback, and will be joined in the backfield by Patterson, Lilly and Trey Williams. Wassum and Isaiah Manns will see time at tight end, while Levi Beckett will line up at split end.

“Our offensive line is a key, we have to know who to block,” Simon said. “Once we know I think we’ll get after them and not worry about it.”

Defensively, Lilly and Wassum return at linebacker, while Patterson is joined by Cole in the secondary. Ferguson, Gibson, C.J. Wallace and Bryce Pannell will play on the line, while Donte’ Baker, Williams and Mann will get time at linebacker. Beckett will make plays in the defensive backfield.

“So far they have done OK, they’ve got good quickness,” Simon said. “Hopefully they will tackle well and know their assignments.

“If they can do that, then I think we’ll be OK. We hope our defense can be good. I don’t know how good, but hopefully they will be good.”

While Bluefield opens its season tonight, Graham has played a game, dropping a 34-29 decision to Christiansburg last Friday. The Blue Demons led 28-10 after three quarters, but had to hold on for the win.

Simon was impressed by what he saw. Junior Dominique Lane (25-162, 2 td) and Bluefield transfer Kyle Harris (7-122, 1 td) put up big yardage behind Graham’s big and experienced offensive line. Defensively, the G-Men allowed 454 yards on the ground, with the Demons pushing three players over the century mark.

“I was very impressed with them, I thought they played very hard and they never quit,” Simon said. “If they had had a little bit more time left in that game, they very easily could have won it.

“Christiansburg never stopped them and I thought they did a really nice job of mixing up the run and the play-action pass. They’re a good ball club, Christiansburg is a heck of a ball club so they didn’t lose to any slouch team and at the same time came very close to winning.”

Graham is just the start of a very difficult schedule for the Beavers, who have another rivalry game next Friday with Princeton.

“We approach every game as tough, I respect every opponent we play,” Simon said. “I know all their coaches work hard and they all have good talent and this game is not any different than the rest of them.

“There’s a lot of pride about football in this whole area and we’ll have to play, but that’s how we approach all the games. I don’t think we’re better than anybody, we’ll hopefully go out and play and give it everything we’ve got.”

That effort will be seen by thousands of football fans. Simon has a lot of memories from a series that was first played in 1911.

“You always get excited for this game, I don’t know if you can compare this or that, but you still get excited,” said Simon, who fondly recalls the ‘91 win over the G-Men. “We had ESPN come down and we came back and won late in the game.

“It wasn’t a lot of fireworks, but we ended up winning 6-4. We threw a late touchdown pass and I thought that was pretty good.”

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

        

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