Gallery by Greg Barnett
Bluefield – In a game where the offenses combined for nearly 70 points, it was a decision on special teams that sealed the victory for Pulaski County.
Leading by two points with two minutes left, PCHS head coach Cam Akers trusted his staff’s call on a fake punt attempt and was rewarded as the Cougars converted a fourth-and-2 to cement a 35-33 victory on the road against Bluefield at Mitchell Stadium Thursday.
Forcing the Bluefield offense off the field on downs on its previous drive, Pulaski head coach Cam Akers wasn’t worried so much about his defense as he was just ending the game.
“We got in there and we were going to give them a freeze type cadence to try and draw them offsides,” Akers explained. “My special teams coordinator, he was like ‘do we want to try to go with our fake?’ and we collectively made the decision. A lot of guys think it was just me but I’ve got great guys around me. He said we had to go ahead and roll with it so I said let’s go. It was one of those situations where it’s not like we didn’t have faith in our defense but we felt like we could end the game there so we went for it.”
“You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” Bluefield coach Fred Simon said. “If we stop them they’re all to hell and if we don’t – we didn’t want our guys to jump off and two if we jump off we should’ve been backed off and if we don’t jump off we should’ve been up. They made a play when they needed to and we didn’t.”
The play was the final say in a game that swayed back and forth all evening with the host Beavers exiting with a sour taste in their mouths. As has been the case in their first two games, poor execution and mistakes doomed them regularly with the successes serving as the reminders of what could be.
The frustration began early when Bluefield QB Caleb Fuller overthrew a seam pass to an open R.J. Hairston who had an open field in front of him. Another deep pass attempt to an open Hairston was again overthrown in the second quarter with Bluefield leading 20-14. It culminated in a third-and-17 passing attempt thrown Hairston’s way on the offense’s penultimate play in which the ball hit the junior wideout in the hands at the goal line but he was unable to haul it in.
Bluefield’s 3rd and 17 heave that fell incomplete with the Beavers down 35-33. pic.twitter.com/oltTkxaYzg
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) September 9, 2022
“We’ve just got to keep battling until something good happens,” Simon said. “These kids are young and they’ve got to learn some tough stuff. Eventually things will happen for us. As long as they hang in there things will happen but damn it’s tough. It’s tough for these kids to fight and just not find a way to win.”
When the duo of Fuller and Hairston did connect they were electric.
Tied 7-7 early in the second quarter after Pulaski’s Trevor Burton and Bluefield’s Amir Hairston traded rushing scores, R.J. Hairston turned the momentum with a fumble recovery on the Pulaski 42 and on the very next play he was rewarded for his efforts as Fuller found him on a slant that he turned into a 42-yard score to give the hosts their first lead of the season.
Here’s the TD from RJ pic.twitter.com/KBRlN5Cv4h
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) September 9, 2022
Another rushing touchdown from Amir Hairston, this one from 13 yards out, staked the Beavers to a 20-7 lead but the Cougars weren’t without their own own big play threat despite throwing the ball just twice all evening. Touchdowns runs of 46 and two yards for Burton put the Cougars ahead 21-20 heading into the break and another from Burton, the fourth of his five on the evening, made it a 28-20 game.
“We’re a little different than most running teams because we’re not conventional,” Akers said. “We’re an option team so there’s always that ability for big plays to squirt out of there. We were able to create some of those situations of course our quarterback and super back did a good job and of course we hang our hat on our offensive line and they were able to get some push. We’re not going to get rid of what we do because we’re down two scores.”
Fuller and R.J. Hairston rediscovered their chemistry in the third when the former found the latter on a 17-yard scoring strike to bring the Beavers within two with 5:33 left in the third. Still Burton and the Cougar offense, which compiled 377 yards rushing, answered with a 16-yard rushing touchdown which proved enough to win the game.
Bluefield persisted, cutting the deficit when Fuller connected with Sencere Fields on a 25-yard touchdown pass but a second-and-9 sack on the Beavers’ final drive and the drop on the next play proved too much to overcome.
Caleb Fuller’s TD pass to Sencere Fields pic.twitter.com/HuJtW79snJ
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) September 9, 2022
The Beavers ultimately hope that’s not the case for their season as they’re off to an 0-3 start for the first time since 2016 when they finished 4-6. It was also the last time they missed the postseason.
“We keep battling with them because we care and they care and the best will happen,” Simon said. “It’s all we can do.”
The Beavers will hit the road for the first time this season when they travel to Beckley (2-0) next Friday in search of their first win.
P: 7 14 7 7 – 35
B: 0 20 6 7 – 33
Scoring Plays
Q1
P: Burton 3 rush (Pratt PAT)
Q2
B: Amir Hairston 9 rush (Parris PAT), 11:19
B: RJ Hairston 42 yard pass from Fuller (Parris PAT), 9:03
B: Hairston 13 rush (PAT no good) 7:06
P: Burton 46 rush (Pratt PAT), 5:39
P: Burton 2 rush (Pratt PAT), :31
Q3
P: Burton 3 rush (Pratt PAT), 7:26
B: Hairston 17 pass from Fuller (Failed Conv), 5:33
Q4
P: Burton 16 rush (Pratt PAT), 10:55
B: Fields 25 yard pass from Fuller (Parris PAT), 8:56
Individual Statistics
Rushing – P: Trevor Burton 26-165-5 TDs, Chris Gallimore 15-141, Brett Jones 7-40, Tyler Underwood 4-26, Trey Landreth 1-6, Taner Mace 2-(Minus-1); B: Amir Hairston 18-87-2 TDs, Caleb Fuller 5-1, Kisean Smith 3-(Minus-4), Sencere Fields 1-(Minus-5)
Passing – B: Caleb Fuller 17-33-229-3 TDs-0 INTs; P: Chris Gallimore 1-2-(minus-2)-0-0
Receiving – B: RJ Hairston 4-84-2 TDs, Brayden Fong 7-74, Sencere Fields 4-58-1, Amir Hairston 2-13
