Beavers collect elusive first win

By TOM BONE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

September 27, 2008 12:57 am

— BLUEFIELD — Just like the presidential debate, Bluefield High School’s homecoming game almost didn’t happen on Friday night. The Beavers’ faithful are glad it did.
Bluefield got over its winless hump with a rousing 51-12 win over the Oak Hill Red Devils at Mitchell Stadium.
Will Cole completed 10 of his 11 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns for Bluefield (1-3), recovered an Oak Hill fumble in the first quarter, and kicked seven extra points in a dominating performance.
“Will’s able to throw the ball, and our receivers did a good job on their routes,” Bluefield coach Fred Simon said. “He’s going to be able to throw it as long as we give him some time.”
With the original set of officials unavailable, the Bluefield administration rounded up a crew from the Mercer County Officials Board Friday afternoon, and the game went on.
Simon thanked Red Devils coach Casey Crane and his staff for understanding the situation, noting, “Oak Hill was very cooperative with me, so were the Mercer County officials.”
Even the weather cooperated. The forecast included a likelihood of steady, cold rain, but the mist and short showers that developed caused no problem.
Crane said, “Bluefield’s the first team we’ve played that had that kind of speed. It’s hard to simulate that in practice. We just played a good team tonight.”
In the first half, Oak Hill’s offense controlled the ball for more than twice the time that Bluefield did (16:47) and ran 38 plays to the Beavers’ 19, but trailed 30-0 at the break.
The first two scores came on passes of 46 yards to Marcus Patterson and 43 to Cody Wassum.
“We had a blast out there tonight,” Patterson said. “Will Cole did a real good job.”
Crane said, “They hit a couple of long passes on us. Our safeties kind of bit on the play action.”
Then the Red Devils (0-5) settled down on offense, handing the ball to Chris Lawson and moving 71 yards downfield. “We tried to run straight at them, and that worked for awhile,” Crane said.
Simon said, “I was a little concerned about that, but we got it straightened out. We’re going to have to work on that run defense.”
The drive ended with a Red Devils fumble recovered by Cole on the Bluefield 18.
Cole played pitch-and-catch with Cody Wassum for an 80-yard score on the Beavers’ first offensive play of the second quarter. Jake Lilly, who helped establish a running game early on, scored a pair of touchdowns as Bluefield built a 44-6 lead.
Simon said, “Jake ran well tonight. We wanted to improve on our running game. We’re going to need that, down the road.”
Special teams problems plagued Oak Hill as well. A high snap forced punter Derek McGuffin to kick the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety with 1:08 left in the half.
McGuffin’s next punt was partially blocked, and lineman Ryan Shorter grabbed the ball to set Bluefield up at the Oak Hill 8. Cole hit Isaiah Manns in the end zone two plays later.
The Red Devils cashed in a 61-yard drive against Bluefield substitutes, with Marcellus McFarland passing to Marcus McFarland and Lawson carrying the ball downfield. He scored from 8 yards out on the first play of the fourth period.
Bluefield’s Alex Morris took the following kickoff down the home sideline 61 yards for the Beavers’ final touchdown, after a squib kick got batted around by two BHS players.
“It was Murphy’s Law,” Crane said. “We try to get a kick down and they wind up running it in for a score.”
Oak Hill’s other score came on a 40-yard gallop by Dewayne Hopkins with 6:12 left.
Crane said, “Our kids kept fighting.” Referring to Bluefield, he said, “Fred (Simon) does a great job. They’ve got a program. We’re trying to build a program. We’ll get there.”
Patterson said, “It felt great to finally get into the winning column. We had to start it here and we’ve got to do it every game.”
Simon said his team has “been trying hard, and they’ve finally been rewarded for their effort. I’m happy for them.”
Bluefield will travel to Clarksburg next Friday to play Robert C. Byrd High School. Oak Hill will hold its homecoming next Friday night, playing Shady Spring.
— Contact Tom Bone at
tbone@bdtonline.com

At Mitchell Stadium
Oak Hill (0-5)...................0 0 0 12 — 12
Bluefield (1-3)................14 16 14 7 — 51
First Quarter
BHS—Marcus Patterson 46 pass from Will Cole (Cole kick), 10:08
BHS—Cody Wassum 43 pass from Cole (Cole kick), 7:56
Second Quarter
BHS—Wassum 80 pass from Cole (Cole kick), 7:28
BHS—Jake Lilly 7 run (Cole kick), 5:12
BHS—Safety, Oak Hill punter kicked ball across end line, 1:08
Third Quarter
BHS—Isaiah Manns 1 pass from Cole (Cole kick), 9:30
BHS—Lilly 1 run (Cole kick), 4:01
Fourth Quarter
OH—Chris Lawson 8 run (kick wide left), 11:54
BHS—Alex Morris 61 kickoff return (Cole kick), 11:44
OH—Dewayne Hopkins 40 run (pass failed), 6:12
———
Individual Statistics
RUSHING — OH: Lawson 17-72, Marcellus McFarland 14-49, Marcus McFarland 1-(minus 3), McGuffin 4-14, Hopkins 10-74, Leonard 1-(minus 5), Mullins 1-3, Colon 2-12, Coats 2-7, Vanbuskirk 1-(minus 4). B: Lilly 12-57, Cole 1-23, Patterson 1-7, Baker 2-18, Fox 2-(minus 5), J. Miles 1-1, Ly 2-6, C. Manns 2-14, Day 1-1, Lester 1-(minus 4).
PASSING — OH: Marcellus McFarland 4-10-0 TD-1 intc.-39 yd. B: Cole 10-11-3 TD-1 intc.-225 yd.
RECEIVING — OH: Marcus McFarland 4-39. B: Patterson 3-70, Beckett 3-28, Wassum 1-80, I. Manns 2-5.

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