Published: October 20, 2007 01:11 am            

Kick good

Sexton's field goal wins it

RICHLANDS, Va. — A cold wind prevailed through the concrete bleachers at Ernie Hicks Stadium Friday night. It was a perfect setting for a clash of two titans.

In the end, the game came down to the final seconds as Asher Sexton hit a 28-yard field goal to give the West Virginia Class AA No. 1 Bluefield Beavers a 16-13 win over the defending Virginia Class AA Division 3 State Champions Richlands Blue Tornado Friday night at Ernie Hicks Stadium.

“Amazing,” Sexton said. “There’s nothing like this.”

“What a ball game,” said Bluefield head coach Fred Simon. “We’re very fortunate to beat a fine football team. We’re lucky to come out with a win over a well-coached team, a lot of pride.”

“It’s a game of big plays,” said Richlands head coach Greg Mance. “They made more than we did and we battled tonight and…I feel good about our football team. Even though we didn’t win, I feel good about our football team.”

Sexton’s kick was set up by two key plays. The first was an interception of a Joel Elswick pass by Marcus Patterson with 2:40 to go. Elswick’s pass was high, but on target for receiver Drew Presnell. But the ball went through his hands and Patterson picked it out of the air.

“He went to catch it and it went straight through his hands and into mine,” Patterson said. “It’s way harder (to keep concentration) after somebody tips it. That’s why we practice the tip drill. We do that all the time and that’s what came in handy there.”

Patterson returned the ball to Richlands’ end zone. But a clipping penalty on the Blues’ 11 negated the touchdown. But the Beavers still had the ball on Richlands’ 26.

“At least we were fortunate enough to keep our heads,” Simon said. “It worked out for us.”

The other key play occurred four plays after the turnover. Facing fourth-and-15 on the Blue Tornado’s 31, Beavers quarterback Will Cole fired a pass for the end zone. Cole’s pass was overthrown. But his receiver’s jersey was tugged by a Richlands defender.

The play drew a penalty flag for pass interference and the Beavers had a first down on the Tornado’s 16 and a new life.

“Whatever it took, our kid must’ve gotten dropped there because the officials, they see the plays and they’ll call what they think is fair,” Simon said. “I thought that was a good call and it just worked out for us.”

The Beavers proceeded to run down the clock to four seconds to set up Sexton. Richlands called not one, but two timeouts in an attempt to ice the kicker. But it backfired.

“It just gave me more time to prepare,” Sexton said. “It didn’t bother me at all. I was ready to go. It just gave me more time to prepare and think about it.” “He works as hard as anyone on our team,” Simon said. “It’s just nice when he gets the opportunity and, boy, he did. He did a good job coming through with that.”

The Tornado turned excellent field position into the only score of the first half. Beginning the drive on the Beavers’ 33, Richlands’ first two plays lost two yards. But on third-and-12, Elswick connected with receiver Matt Davis for a 34-yard bomb.

On the next play, Romulo Fajardo plunged into the end zone and the Tornado led 6-0.

Following the crowning of Brandon Arnold and Rachel Stanton as homecoming king and queen at halftime, the Beavers got a big play from their running game. Shaun Brooks burst through a hole in the middle of the line and out-raced Richlands’ secondary for a spectacular 55-yard touchdown. It put Bluefield ahead 7-6.

However, it was the only significant yardage the Beavers got from their rushing attack.

“They did a good job up front with us defensively,” Simon said. “We had a hard time moving the ball. They’re a good football team.”

A seven-yard punt set up Bluefield’s next score by giving them the ball on the Tornado’s 23.

Three plays could only gain two yards, and the Beavers were faced with fourth-and-eight. Rather than go for a field goal, Simon elected to gamble. The decision paid off as Cole connected with Chase Joyner for a 21-yard score. It was the first of two successful fourth-down plays.

“We had the lead by a point,” Simon said. “They had moved the ball O.K. but not really driven the field on us. So we wanted to keep them deep in their territory and had we possibly gotten a score it would’ve helped. If not, we would make them go 80 yards.”

However, Sexton missed the extra point, keeping the margin at seven points.

The Beavers were successful in slowing down Richlands’ Austin Fuller. He only caught two passes for 11 yards and gained another 16 yards on five carries.

“We’re just not doing a good job of getting Austin the ball,” Mance said. “It goes back to my fault. They’re double covering him and we’re not taking advantage of it. We’re not getting him the ball. We’ve got the best player in southwestern Virginia and he’s touching the ball three times.”

“We slowed him down some, but I’m telling you he’s a heck of an athlete and we knew that going in,” Simon said. “They did a good job whether they were getting it to him or not and when they went away from him they were very successful.”

But Fuller was not stopped completely. Following Joyner’s touchdown, Fuller returned the ensuing kickoff 51 yards to the Beavers’ 35. After a holding penalty sent the Tornado back, Elswick connected with Davis again for a 37-yard gain. Two plays later, Fajardo scored on another one-yard plunge and added the extra point to tie the game at 13-13 and set up a heart-stopping finish.

Richlands (6-2) gets back into Southwest District play with a trip to Carroll County next Friday night.

“Anytime you go to Hillsville, it’s a long bus trip,” Mance said. “They’re solid and they do a great job of execution and misdirection and we’ve got to do a better job on offense of holding on to the ball. You can’t make turnovers and win.”

Bluefield (7-0) will now turn their attention to the No. 3 James Monroe Mavericks in a showdown for the No. 1 spot in West Virginia next Friday night at Mitchell Stadium.

But moments after beating one of the top teams in Virginia, Simon did not wanted to think about the week ahead.

“We’ve got a tough one coming in next week, but dad-gone I’m going to enjoy tonight,” Simon said. “I’ll think about them tomorrow. For a couple of hours at least or maybe the rest of this night I’m going to enjoy myself.”

—Contact Jed Lockett

at jlockett@bdtonline.com



At Ernie Hicks Stadium

Bluefield (6-0)…....................0 0 13 3 — 16

Richlands (6-1)…..................6 0 0 7 — 13

First Quarter

Ric - Romula Fajardo 1 run (Kick failed), 2:03

Third Quarter

Blu - Shaun Brooks 55 run (Asher Sexton kick), 8:37

Blu - Chase Joyner 21 pass from Will Cole (Kick failed), :59

Fourth Quarter

Ric - Romula Fajardo 1 run (Romula Fajardo kick), 11:03

Blu - Asher Sexton 28 field goal, :00

Team Stats

First Downs: BF 8, RL 8. Rush-Yards: BF 35-110, RL 29-85. Passing: BF 7-15-0, RL 7-16-2; Pass Yards: BF 58, RL 96. Fumbles-Lost: BF 3-1, RL 2-1. Punts-Avg: BF 5-33.6, RL 6-26.7; Penalty-Yards: BF 3-25, RL 7-60. Time of possession: BF 24:33, RL 23:27.

        

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