Gallery by Heather Belcher
Bluefield – After pulling off numerous surprises Friday night, Bluefield with a chance to win the game on its final drive, was hoping for late heroics against rival Graham.
Unfortunately for the Beavers those hopes were dashed by the boys across the border.
Trailing 27-6 with three minutes left in the first half, the Beavers found their mojo in the waning minutes of the second quarter, and throughout the third, but ultimately came up short, falling 29-25 to Graham Friday night at Mitchell Stadium.
“We wanted to play harder and better in the second half and we did and I’m proud of them for that,” Bluefield coach Fred Simon said. “It’s just a shame to come out on the short end of the stick when you play a hard second half. We just tried not to give up a couple scores early and we did. But we played hard. Hell, they scored twice on fourth downs and you can’t give that up. You’ve got to make plays when it’s time. It’s heartbreaking but we’ll learn from to and move on.”
Fortune favored the G-Men throughout the first half as a fourth down stop gave the hosts the ball at the Beaver 41, though a penalty on their seventh play of the drive threatened to derail it.
Faced with a fourth-and-15 from the Beavers 25, Graham QB Brayden Meadows completed his first pass attempt to receiver Chris Edwards for a 25-yard score to draw first blood.
Graham’s first 4th down conversion and touchdown of the night pic.twitter.com/f30tzM7G5d
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) August 27, 2022
Bad turned to worse for Bluefield on the next play from scrimmage as all-state running back Amir Hairston was stripped with the G-Men recovering at the Bluefield 43.
Faced with a fourth-and-9 on the ensuing drive, Meadows again found Edwards for a successful conversion and two plays later the QB called his own number, powering in from a yard out.
Miscues plagued the Beavers repeatedly throughout the first half. Breaking in a new quarterback and stable of skill players played into the hands of Graham which keyed in on Hairston, holding him to just 18 yards rushing on 12 carries.
It also opened opportunities for Beavers QB Caleb Fuller along with running back Gerrard Wade and receivers R.J. Hairston and Sencere Fields. Though it took some creativity on the Beavers’ part to get them going.
Their first spark on offense came when Fuller hit R.J. Hairston on a bubble on the opposite hash and the 6-foot-4 junior did the rest, rumbling 42 yards to eventually set up a 14-yard rushing score by his cousin Amir. Still, stopping the G-Men proved to be a task with Ty’Drez Clements answering immediately with a 79-yard scoring jaunt on a first-and-24 on the ensuing drive, compounded later by a four-yard run from Meadows on their next drive.
Pushed to the brink of desperation, a screen from Fuller to Wade picked up 23 yards and three plays later, on third-and-10 from the Graham 25, Fuller pitched to Amir Hairston on a trick play who then threw downfield to an open Fields, making it a 27-12 game at the break.
Here’s the trick play from Hairston pic.twitter.com/2sTwmdBblw
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) August 27, 2022
“Giving up field position hurt us on those first two possessions and giving up those big plays on fourth down,” Simon said. “Had we made plays it could’ve changed it up a little bit but we didn’t and I’m still proud of how we came back at halftime.”
Simon’s halftime adjustments were just what the doctor ordered as the Beavers shutout the G-Men after the break, rolling the dice on fourth down. After being out-gained 221 to 109 in total yards in the first half, the Beaver offense clicked out of the break.
Facing fourth-and-12 from the 37, Fuller launched a ball downfield for Fields in traffic who caught it and spun into the end zone for a touchdown. The momentum stayed with the Beavers throughout the third as a 27-yard punt return by Fields set the visitors up at the Graham 33. Following a pitch and catch to Brayden Fong for 13 yards and a personal foul penalty on Graham, Wade raced in from 10 yards out to eventually make it a 27-25 game.
Man, @beavernationFB’s Sencere Fields with an incredible 42-yard TD catch on 4th and 12. Beavers trail 27-18 with 7 minutes left in Q3 pic.twitter.com/oFeiTPAYJl
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) August 27, 2022
“They took advantage of the passing game,” Graham head coach Tony Palmer said. “We’ve got to be better in our pass coverage. We gave up plays they shouldn’t have got touchdowns on. I mean we had a guy right there and they just happened to make a great play.”
Shortly after the third, Graham rediscovered it’s mojo.
After Bluefield stuffed Meadows on fourth-and-goal from the 1, an aggressive Graham defense tackled Wade in the end zone on the ensuing play for the final points of the game. From there the G-Men defense kept the Beavers at bay while Clements, who racked up 240 yards on 26 carries, closed the game out.
“He’s an outstanding player,” Palmer said of Clements. “He’s an outstanding playmaker for us that’s fast and runs very hard. I’m extremely proud of the way he played tonight.”
Fields led the Beavers with three catches for 73 yards and two touchdowns while Fuller was 12-of-21 passing for 161 yards and a score.
Bluefield drops to 0-1 and will host Class AAA Princeton next week at Mitchell Stadium.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter
Scoring Plays
G: Meadows 25 pass to Edwards (PAT Nash), 4:38
