Published: October 11, 2008 01:23 am            

Blue streak

Bluefield takes third win in row

BLUEFIELD — Pure, unadulterated speed propelled the Bluefield Beavers to a must-win 35-14 decision over the Richlands Blue Tornado on Friday night at Mitchell Stadium.

The speed came from fullback, where Jake Lilly ran for 128 yards; halfback, with Marcus Patterson grabbing four balls for 84 yards; and defense, in which the Beavers limited Richlands to 3 yards per carry and gave up no runs longer than 11 yards.

Not to mention quarterback. Will Cole completed 14 of 19 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns, executing a game plan that got receivers into space.

Bluefield head coach Fred Simon referred to the Beavers’ record, now 3-3. “We’ve gotten ourselves backed against the wall. Our kids know that, and they’ve got to play just as hard as they can play and as well as they can play, and they’re getting better each week.”

Greg Mance, the veteran Richlands coach, said that Bluefield has “a well-coached team. They’ve got speed. They’re quick. The better team won. You’ve just got to take your hat off and give Bluefield credit.

“We had some opportunities we didn’t get cashed in, and we just gave up way too many big plays.”

Lilly said Richlands (5-3) was “a well-coached team, I’m telling you. They’re tough. They don’t give up. They play hard for four quarters.”

Richlands defensive leader Derek Jackson said, “We weren’t ready to play, I think. ... You can’t do something like that with a good football team like Bluefield. Bluefield, they’re never a bad team. They’re always a good team, no matter what their record is.”

The Blue Tornado took the opening kick and rolled downfield. An apparent touchdown pass from Joel Elswick to a wide-open Bradley Strong was wiped out by a motion penalty. The drive stalled at the Bluefield 6, forcing a field-goal try that hooked left.

Jackson said, “You did good, you drive all the way down the field, you get down there and you miss the field goal. It just takes all the momentum and shifts it to the other team. And they capitalized on it.”

The Beavers marched 80 yards in 11 plays. Cole got the touchdown on a 12-yard run in which he leaped the last three yards to get by the last Richlands defender. He sailed across the corner of the end zone with the football firmly in his outstretched hand.

“I figured I’d just go for it, and try to go over the guy and get into the end zone,” Cole said. “I dove as far as I could and got the ball across the plane (of the goal). It felt good.”

A Bluefield personal foul after the extra point gave Richlands good field position, and the Tornado evened the score 7-7 on their own 11-play drive, with Taylor Sizemore scoring from 5 yards out.

Lilly untied the game with a burst around right end for a 59-yard score on the next play from scrimmage. Bluefield got its 21-7 halftime advantage when Cole hit Levi Beckett, wide open in the end zone, on a 19-yard TD toss.

The only score of the third period came early. Marcus Patterson hauled in a pass and dodged his way 65 yards to the end zone.

Cole said, “Richlands made a lot of real good adjustments at halftime, and that really limited us as far as offense. We just hung in and got the win.”

Lilly said Cole “is good under pressure. He’s got a great arm. He knows what to do at the right moment.”

Yet another 11-play drive by Richlands led to a touchdown from Elswick to Strong early in the fourth quarter.

With 5:48 left, Patterson fumbled the ball and Chuck Payne recovered for Richlands. On the very next play, Patterson got the ball back by intercepting an Elswick pass. They were the only two turnovers of the contest.

Late in the game, the Bluefield staff turned to Lilly for tough runs to take time off the clock. Lilly said, “We just needed to get the linemen to make their blocks ... and just control the ball and control the time — and control the game.”

Lilly’s last carry, a 7-yard TD run, combined with Cole’s fifth extra-point kick, produced the final score.

For Richlands, Elswick completed 15 of 25 passes for 126 yards, and Sizemore pounded the ball on 20 carries for 81 of his team’s 120 rushing yards.

Cole said the Bluefield defense “improved a lot from last week. We played fundamentally, and we played smart.”

Lilly said, “That’s the first time we’ve actually seen passing, this year. We did a good job on it. We prepared for it, all week. The coaches helped us out. ... We came ready to play, and (were) focused.”

Mance said, “Anytime you lose, it hurts. But tonight — we were beat up and banged up; we knew that coming down here. I thought we had a good week of practice.

“We did some good things. On the first drive of the game, we drove down, (but) we got a touchdown called back for motion. We missed the field goal, and then they go 80 yards. Big plays were the name of the game.”

The Beavers will be on the road the next three weeks, starting with a trip to Mount View on Friday night.

To get a playoff spot, Simon said, “We just can’t let up. We’ve got to keep pushing and pushing.”

The Blue Tornado will be idle next weekend before finishing its regular season with Southwest District opponents Carroll County and Grundy.

Jackson said the loss “definitely hurt us, points-wise. But we’re going to get after it next week. We might be open, but we’re definitely going to go five days, Monday through Friday. We need to, too. We’ve got to work harder. This is — embarrassing.”

— Contact Tom Bone at

tbone@bdtonline.com



At Mitchell Stadium

Richlands............................0 7 0 7 — 14

Bluefield..............................7 14 7 7 — 35

First Quarter

BHS–Will Cole 12 run (Cole kick), 1:47

Second Quarter

RHS–Taylor Sizemore 5 run (Brandon Olmsted kick), 8:55

BHS–Jake Lilly 59 run (Cole kick), 8:37

BHS–Levi Beckett 19 pass from Cole (Cole kick), 3:49

Third Quarter

BHS–Patterson 65 pass from Cole (Cole kick), 10:05

Fourth Quarter

RHS–Bradley Strong 11 pass from Joel Elswick (Olmsted kick), 7:23

BHS–Lilly 7 run (Cole kick), 1:46

———

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Richl, Elswick 17-28, Sizemore 20-81, Strong 1-7, E.Hearl 2-4. Blfd, Lilly 10-128, Patterson 6-30, Cole 7-47, team 2-(minus 2).

PASSING — Richl, Elswick 15-25-126 yds.-1 TD-1 intc. Blfd, Cole 14-19-174 yds.-2 TDs-0 intc.

RECEIVING — Richl, Strong 5-59, C.Hearl 4-25, Sizemore 2-9, Bartkoski 1-6, E.Hearl 1-7, Olmsted 2-20. Blfd, Lilly 2-41, Wassum 5-22, I.Manns 1-3, Beckett 2-24, Patterson 4-84.

        

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