Gallery by Tina Laney
The last two years Beckley and Bluefield have had intense battles down the wire.
That was not the case Friday night at Van Meter Stadium.
Scoring on four of their five first half possessions, the Flying Eagles led 29-0 at halftime and were never challenged in a 43-7 drubbing of the Beavers.
Coming off of its first loss of the season last week against Parkersburg South, Beckley hit the field focused and ready to play on Hall of Fame Night.
“We had a bad taste in our mouth from last week. We made some mistakes, so we got back in here on Saturday morning and corrected them on film,” Beckley head coach Street Sarrett said. “We came out ready. You never know with Bluefield. They have explosive power on offense and they are strong on defense. It was an all-around team win tonight.”
Following an exchange of punts, Beckley was set up in plus territory at the Bluefield 38 yard line and started to flex its muscle.
Bryce Ford ripped off a 26-yard gainer and Gage Price hit Landon Jones with a key nine-yard pass on third down to move the ball to the two yard line. Konnor Ray punched it on the next play for a 7-0 lead and the home team never looked back.
Bluefield moved the ball into Beckley territory on its second possession, but was forced to punt pinning the home team at its own 10-yard line.
Five plays later, M.J. Staples exploded through a big hole and raced 75 yards for a 14-0 lead with 20 seconds left in the first quarter.
“We knew coming in against a team like (Beckley), you have to start quick and strong. We did alright, then we allowed them to get those nice runs,” Bluefield head coach Freddy Simon said. “They also had some nice plays on third-and-long. If we stop that, we are in the game. That is what we have to learn to do. You have to make plays when it is third-and-long and fourth-and-long and we didn’t do that.”
The Beavers saw the game slip away in the second quarter when Price came up big on two crucial pass plays.
With just over nine minutes left in the half, the young sophomore dropped a nice ball across the middle once again to Jones who hauled it in for a 12-yard touchdown.
The back-breaker came on Beckley’s next possession late in the half.
Facing fourth-and-14 from the Bluefield 32, Price hit A.J. Thomas down the middle who barreled his way into the end zone to give the Flying Eagles a 29-0 lead at the break.
“He made a great throw to A.J. Thomas. A throw I would have never imagined,” Sarrett said about his first-year starter. “He is getting the reps and now he keeps getting better and better.”
Although Bluefield scored in the waning seconds of the contest, the offense struggled mightily all night.
“Our line could have done a better job tonight. I thought Woodrow’s line whipped us up front a little better than I thought they would,” Simon said. “Our kids running routes are like 5-foot-6, 150 pounds going up against their athletic guys that are 6-foot-1 and 6-foot, 175 or 180 (pounds). We are going up against some odds playing a four-A school. It is just tough at times to compete.”
For their part, the Flying Eagles controlled the game on the ground rushing for over 300 yards in the win.
“The average high school team gets 11 possessions in a game and we want to score on all of them. The guys moved the ball well,” Sarrett said. “Our line didn’t get the A+ that we want, but they are a strong B. When they get to be an A+, they will be super dangerous.”
Ford led the stable of backs for Beckley with 119 yards, while Staples finished with 90 yards.
“The beautiful thing is these back block for each other. Down there on that last score, Konnor Ray switched positions with Bryce so he could get a touchdown,” Sarrett said. “That is what our guys are about. They are each other’s brother and it is all about team.”
Bluefield played the second half without starting quarterback Mattox Simpson who left the game for precautionary reasons.
“He got popped on the left hand. It was just precautionary to be sure he was OK,” Simon said. “We weren’t going to come back and score a bunch of touchdowns with the good defense that they have.”
The Beckley defense also picked off two passes in the second half, both by first-year varsity starter Preston Clary.
“It was great to get this win on Hall of Fame Night and in a Beckley-Bluefield game. “(Hall of Fame) coach (Pete) Culicerto was here and I know it made him happy to beat Bluefield,” Sarrett said. “I appreciate all of the Hall of Famers coming out. That is the biggest group we have had in a long time.”
The Flying Eagles will be off next Friday before hosting Preston County for Homecoming in two weeks.
“It is a good time,” Sarrett said about the bye week. “We have four games under our belt. We can fine tune some things then we can start preparing for Preston County. Just keep working and try to be 1-0 every Friday night.”
Bl: 0 0 0 7 – 7
Be: 14 15 7 7 – 43
First quarter
Be: Konnor Ray 2 run (Tyler Radford kick)
Be: M.J. Staples 75 run (Radford kick)
Second quarter
Be: Landon Jones 12 pass from Gage Price (Radford kick)
Be: A.J. Thomas 32 pass from Price (Ray rush)
Third quarter
Be: Christian Stewart 38 run (Radford kick)
Bl: 44 11 pass from 6 (20 kick)
Fourth quarter
Be: Bryce Ford 1 run (Radford kick)
Bl: Landon Crane 11 pass from Ricky Dunford (Eli Riffe kick)
Stats
Rushing: (BL) Ty Patton 7-14, Willis Wilson 9-8, Mattox Simpson 4-(-14), Kisean Smith 1-(-2); (BE) Ray 9-35-1, Ford 14-119-1, Landon Jones 1-8, Jacob Reeves 6-18, Stewart 2-40-1, Staples 5-90-1, Price 2-2.
Passing: Simpson 7-15-0-71-0, Dunford 6-9-2-33-1; Price 5-9-0-62-2
Receiving: Wilson 1-(-5), TyresesPowell 6-54, K. Smith 3-19, Jamarius Smith 1-24, Crane 1-11-1; Thomas 3-40-1, Jones 2-22-1
Takeaways: (BL) Fum Rec (unknown); (BE) Preston Clary INT (2)
