Gallery by Greg Barnett
Bluefield – Sitting at 1-5 three weeks ago, the Bluefield Beavers have been in playoff mode since late September, hoping to extend their postseason streak to six.
Hosting Oak Hill, a team just inside the Class AAA playoff bubble, an opportunity to strengthen their playoff case with bonus points was there for the taking.
The Beavers took it.
Utilizing a kickoff return for a touchdown and a long interception return, Bluefield turned a narrow 12-7 lead into a 34-14 victory over the Red Devils Friday at Mitchell Stadium.
The loss snaps Oak Hill’s two-game winning streak while extending Bluefield’s to three in a row.
Ahead 12-7 despite struggling in the red zone, the Beavers leaned on their defense and special teams with the latter immediately making an impact out of the break when Kisean Smith returned the kickoff 99 yards for a score.
The floodgates opened from there with Jeff King’s 65-yard interception return setting up another score three minutes later. The finishing touches were applied when Gerrard Wade opened the fourth quarter with a three-yard touchdown run, capping the scoring.
“We mentally made some mistakes we shouldn’t have made in the first half and mentally weren’t in it,” Blueifled coach Fred Simon said. “Our players got a little sharper and made some mental plays in the second half.”
The surge was aided by the Beavers’ ability to finish drives, something they struggled with in the first half.
A fourth-down penalty called on Bluefield extended Oak Hill’s second drive and the Red Devils capitalized, establishing an early lead on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Alex Colaiseno to Ethan Vargo-Thomas. Bluefield’s Caleb Fuller answered on the ensuing drive with a three-yard touchdown run. The kicker – the Beavers failed to convert on the two-point attempt, foreshadowing their first-half struggles in the red zone.
Fortunately for the hosts their special teams were there to shoulder the load. A blocked Oak Hill punt was scooped by Brayden Fong and returned 40 yards for the second score of the game though the ensuing conversion attempt failed again.
The struggles inside the 10 continued for the Beavers when both of their second quarter drives ended with turnovers on downs on the Oak Hill 14 and 3.
“I just thought our kids played hard,” Oak Hill head coach Dave Moneypenny said. “We had some breakdowns on special teams and that was the big difference tonight.”
On top of the two touchdowns yielded on special teams the Red Devils were unsuccessful on a 42-yard field goal attempt. It was especially detrimental for the Red Devil offense which ran 19 plays on its third and fourth drives but struggled to maintain that consistency. Seven of their 11 drives Friday night lasted five plays or less.
“We haven’t stopped the run hardly all year so we had a little chat with them,” Simon said. “I was proud of our defense. I was happy to see us stop the run and see our defense get a little bit better. We made some mistakes but we’re getting better.”
The game also marked the third straight time in which Bluefield QB Caleb Fuller completed 60 percent or more of his passes as he finished 9 of 15 for 145 yards, connecting with RJ Hairston five times for 133 yards.
“(Offensive coordinate Fritz Simon) has done a good job coaching them up,” Simon said. “He does a good job with the spread offense. I think Fuller, he never played a lot at QB and he’s now start to get it. He’s a good quarterback and he’s a good leader. I think now he’s getting the hang of it and it’d be nice to win a game and get in the playoffs and see what he can do. We’ve lost Amir Hairston and we’ve had some kids step up and we’re young on defense but they’ve stepped their game up as well.”
Both teams will finish their regular seasons next week at home. Oak Hill will host longtime rival Beckley with a playoff berth likely on the line for both teams. Bluefield will host 8-0 Ridgeview, Va., needing a win to have any hope of making the postseason.
Scoring Plays
Q1
OH: Colaiseno 24 yard pass to Ethan Vargo-Thomas (EVT Kick), 6:33
B: Fuller 3 rush (Conv fails), 4:33
B: Fong 40-yard punt block recovery (Conv fails), :30
Q3
B: Kisean Smith 99 yard kickoff return (Conv fails), 11:47
B: Fuller 2 rush (Conv succeeds), 8:50
B: EVT 2 rush (EVT kick), 5:51
Q4
B: Wade 3 rush (Fong pass from Fuller), 11:55
Individual Statistics
Rushing – OH: Ethan Vargo-Thomas 10-66-1, Omar Lewis 6-66, Alex Baxter 10-20, JD Mauritz 7-13, Alex Colaiseno 2-(-10), No. 12 6-13; B: Gerrard Wade 12-43-1, Caleb Fuller 7-33-2, Tyquise Powell 2-5, Kisean Smith 2-0
Passing – OH: Colaiseno 8-11-69-1 TD, Alex Baxter 0-4-0-0-1 INT; B: Caleb Fuller 9-12-145-0-0, Brayden Fong 0-1-0-0-0
Receiving – OH: Lewis 5-33, EVT 1-24-1, No. 12 1-7, Mauritz 1-5
