Published: November 21, 2009 01:10 am      

Beavers ride Tide to semis

SETH — The Bluefield Beavers stemmed the Tide Friday night to reach the semifinals of the Class AA football playoffs, by running over the previously-undefeated Sherman Tide 25-18 on a chilly night in Boone County.

Fred Simon, Bluefield's veteran coach, said, "Our players found a way to win, but I was very impressed with the effort of Sherman."

The Tide (11-1), which turned in its best record in school history, could not account for all of the playmakers employed by the Beavers (10-2), and especially in the second half could not withstand the blocking of a fired-up Bluefield offensive line.

Brad Fox and Jake Lilly each had 16 carries, racking up 111 and 74 yards respectively, as Bluefield churned out 253 rushing yards and 56 yards through the air.

"Brad ran well, up inside," Simon said. "All in all, (I was) pleased with our offensive line inside, and pleased to come out of here with a win."

Marcus Patterson, who ran 13 times for 28 yards mostly on pitch plays, said, "Those linemen opened up some big holes for them, and they got through to the second level and made some big cuts when they needed to."

Fox said, "I started getting yards because the line was blocking. I made a couple of mistakes at the beginning of the game, but I did what I had to do to get us to another game, and that's all that matters."

The senior quarterback of the Tide, Colby Treadway, ran 12 times for 107 yards, going over 1,000 yards rushing for the season, and completed five of his 12 passes for 106 yards and two scores.

Simon said, "We thought they could pass. We didn't think the rushing game would be that good. ... Treadway did a heck of a job running."

Lilly said, "Coach made adjustments. I came from safety to linebacker to key on the quarterback, and Byron (Steptoe) came back at safety to help out on the pass. ... Our other linebackers spied on the running back. (It was because of) a big adjustment, a good job by our coaching staff."

Sherman took the ball to start the game and rammed downfield on the running of Treadway and Jacob Halstead. The quarterback got the initial touchdown on a 10-yard run less than three minutes into the game.

The extra point was wide left. That was the first of six failed point-after kicks, three by each team.

Bluefield tied the game on a 15-play drive of 72 yards that ended early in the second quarter. Sherman answered five plays later with Treadway hitting Tyler Boulet on a post pattern for a 28-yard score.

The Beavers took a 13-12 lead with 5:47 left before the half. Patterson took a pitch to paydirt to end a drive aided by two critical fouls called on Sherman. Justin Mariotti's extra point gave Bluefield its one-point halftime margin.

The Bluefield offensive line and defensive unit took control for most of the second half. Sherman ran only seven plays in the third quarter, giving the ball up on downs when Treadway was called for intentional grounding on a pass play.

Meanwhile Jake Lilly handled the last 25 yards of a 10-play drive, rushing three times and scoring from 10 yards out.

The Beavers scored again with 5:04 remaining in the game on a brilliant play call. After a Tide time out, Bluefield caught the defense off guard with a surprise snap. As the backs acted out a set of decoy moves, quarterback Levi Beckett raced down the middle for a 34-yard touchdown. The point-after try was blocked by Sherman's Jacob Rollo and the score remained 25-12.

Sherman wasn't done, moving quickly on a 75-yard drive in less than two minutes. Treadway's final pass traveled 41 yards and Rollo, a talented 6-4 senior wideout, caught the ball at the right corner of the end zone to narrow the score to 25-18 with 3:12 left.

"He made a real nice catch there at the end," Simon said. "We were in decent position but he made a heck of a play." It was Rollo's 13th and last receiving touchdown of the year.

"He had one good catch, but that was it," Patterson said.

On Bluefield's final possession, Beckett converted a third-down play with a five-yard run behind his line's blocks. Back-to-back penalties on the Beavers stopped the clock, but Bluefield was able to bleed precious seconds off the clock and keep the ball out of the home team's hands.

Ultimately, Bluefield's big plays were enough. Simon said, "We just have to come out and do what it takes to win. When you get into the playoffs, everybody's good, and if think differently, you can come out and get your feelings hurt."

Bluefield will face the winner of this afternoon's Magnolia-Keyser game with a spot in the Super Six finals in Wheeling once again at stake.

Sherman coach Shann Elkins took his team into the locker room after the game and was not immediately available for an interview.

—Contact Tom Bone at tbone@bdtonline.com



At Zontini Memorial Field

Bluefield (10-2)....................0 13 6 6 — 25

Sherman (11-1)...................6 6 0 6 — 18

First Quarter

Sherman -- Colby Treadway 10 run (kick failed), 9:09

Second Quarter

Bluefield -- Jake Lilly 1 run (kick failed), 9:19

Sherman -- Tyler Boulet 28 pass from Treadway (kick failed), 7:48

Bluefield -- Marcus Patterson 4 run (Justin Mariotti kick), 5:47

Third Quarter

Bluefield -- Lilly 10 run (kick failed), 7:46

Fourth Quarter

Bluefield -- Levi Beckett 34 run (kick blocked), 5:04

Sherman -- Jacob Rollo 41 pass from Treadway (kick failed), 3:12

———

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Bluefield, Brad Fox 16-111, Jake Lilly 16-74, Levi Beckett 5-42, Marcus Patterson 13-28, Team 2-(-2). Sherman, Colby Treadway 12-107, Jacob Halstead 12-21, Jacob Rollo 1-4.

PASSING -- Bluefield, Levi Beckett 5-9-56 yds.-0 TD-0 intc. Sherman, Colby Treadway 5-12-106-2-0.

RECEIVING -- Bluefield, Trey Williams 1-22, Brad Fox 2-19, Marcus Patterson 2-15. Sherman, Tyler Boulet 2-38, Jacob Rollo 1-41, Justin Woodrum 1-18, Jacob Halstead 1-9.