Gallery by Heather Belcher
The current class of seniors for Beckley have never experienced the joy of beating longtime rival Bluefield on the gridiron.
They have now.
A field goal from Connor Mollohan in the final seconds of regulation, capped a 14-point second half comeback, giving the Flying Eagles a wild 30-27 win.
Connor Mollohan's kick is tipped, but goes through to give Beckley a 30-27 lead with 10 secs left #wvprepfb pic.twitter.com/SywbzwKcMx
— Rusty Udy (@rusman1981) September 17, 2022
“I am just proud of the kids the way they fought back through that adversity,” Beckley head coach Street Sarrett said. “In the past we would have folded up and it would have been a 50-7 game. These kids are fighters and they are showing people that they are a really good football team. We have a long tradition with Bluefield. They have always had a great ball club. It’s always a dogfight when these two teams get together.”
After the two teams traded first quarter touchdowns, Beckley was poised to retake the lead when disaster struck to open the second quarter.
On first-and-goal from the Bluefield one-yard line, the Flying Eagles put the ball on the carpet and the Beavers pounced on the ball at the three. Bluefield then moved the ball inside the red zone with just under three minutes to play in the quarter, but could not score.
Although it came up with a much needed stop, Beckley was not out of danger.
An interception from Amir Hairston gave the ball back to the Beavers and they cashed in on a 15-yard jaunt from Hairston for a 14-7 lead.
However, on the tackle as he went into the end zone, Hairston suffered a lower leg injury and did not return. Prior to the injury, Hairston had carried the ball 15 times for 101 yards and his downhill running had given Beckley fits in the first 24 minutes of play.
“We missed him,” veteran Bluefield head coach Fred Simon said. “(Gerrard) Wade I thought did a good job (in the second half), but it would have been nice to have had him.”
Things went from bad to worse for Beckley to open the second half when Caleb Fuller hit Wade on a 30-yard strike to push the lead to 14 points.
“I had to give (everyone) a gut-check,” senior Matt Moore said. “Without that we would have lost that game. We just came together as a team, like a brotherhood. We started playing as a team and that is what won this game.”
With Moore doing almost all of the heavy lifting, Beckley drove 62 yards in nine plays to cut the lead back to seven points with 3:21 to play in the third quarter.
Moore carried the rock 22 times for 155 yards on the night.
“(Matt) played his butt off tonight. I have been on him a little bit and he is figuring some things out for us,” Sarrett said. “I am proud of him. When he can do what he did tonight, it really frees people up. You couldn’t find anybody hotter than Matt Moore tonight.”
The senior standout was also huge on defense down the stretch blowing up a play that forced a Bluefield punt on the next possession.
With the Beavers locked in on Moore, Darmonte Mitchell popped through the line and sprinted 75 yards to tie the game at 21 apiece heading to the fourth quarter.
“All we talked about at halftime was the only people beating us was ourselves. We wanted to come out and play the second half like we did last week and good things will happen,” Sarrett said..” We didn’t turn that ball over in the second half. If we can get these turnovers out of us, this team is going to catch on fire.”
Riding the momentum, Beckley appeared to stop Bluefield again when the Beavers lined up for a punt on fourth-and-four at their own 26. A crucial illegal substitution error by Beckley gave Bluefield a first down and the visitors made the Flying Eagles pay immediately.
Wade popped free around the outside on the next play and went 69 yards to put Bluefield back on top 27-21.
The lead did not last two minutes.
Jay Jones evened the game for Beckley when he rolled in from 32 yards on a keeper with 10:21 to play.
After struggling at times throughout the night, the Beckley defense rose to the occasion and stopped Bluefield on downs inside the 10-yard line. A huge tackle for loss by Jones and two incomplete passes gave the ball back the the Flying Eagles with 5:58 to play.
Moore again did the bulk of the work moving Beckley into scoring position including a huge fourth down conversion inside the red zone.
“I might be a little tired, but I feel like I worked really hard tonight,” Moore said. “I knew we were going to get that first down. I had faith in my offesnive line and I had faith in me. We are unstoppable when we play together like that.”
Moore’s work set the stage for Mollohan, who also has some issues he was dealing with after being slightly injured in a Thursday soccer match.
“I jumped up for a header with a guy and he came down on the inside of my ankle bone,” Mollohan explained. “I thought it was going to be an issue this morning. I got out of bed and my foot hurt really bad. I went home after school and iced it. Then I came in early with our trainer and I got some treatment. It felt amazing when I came out here.”
With a 21-yard kick to win the game, there was still some drama that had to play out.
“We had to change snappers, so I was a little nervous at first, but I settled down,” Mollohan said. “I hit it and I saw the ball hit somebody. I was thinking please have enough power (to go through). It went in and I had an overwhelming feeling of joy. It felt so good to cap that comeback.”
The loss drops Bluefield to 0-4 on the season and puts its playoff hopes in serious question.
“We have played four tough teams and had a chance to win all four. It’s sad for our players and I hate it,” Simon said. “Double-A-wise I think we are as good as any team. It’s hard when you play triple-A teams. Some years you beat them and sometimes you don’t. I think we can compete with anyone in double-A, but we have our backs against the wall now. We will see what happens.”
Woodrow Wilson (3-1) travels to Lincoln County Friday, while Bluefield will seek its first win of the season at Richlands, Va.
BL: 7 7 7 6 – 27
B: 7 0 14 9 – 30
First quarter
B: Darmonte Mitchell 1 run (Connor Mollohan kick
BL: R.J. Hairston 9 pass from Caleb Fuller (Greyson Parris kick)
Second quarter
BL: Amir Hairston: 15 run (Parris kick)
Third quarter
BL: Gerrard Wade 30 pass from Fuller (Parris kick)
B: Leon Smith 1 run (Mollohan kick)
B: Mitchell 75 run (Mollohan kick)
Fourth quarter
BL: Wade 69 run (kick no good)
B: Jay Jones 32 run (kick no good)
B: Mollhan 21 FG
Stats:
Rushing: (B) A. Hairston 15-101-1, Fuller 11-17, Wade 15-130-1; (B) Mitchell 8-98-2, Moore 22-155, Smith 4-14-1, Jones 1-32-1, Nate Grayton 4-34.
Passing (B): Fuller 14-22-182-0-2; (B) Jones 3-4-61-1-0
Receiving: R.J. Hairston 6-87-1; Sencere Fields 2-10, Brayden Fong 4-50, Shawn Hale 1-5, Wade 1-30-1; (B) Elijah Waller 1-31, Mitchell 1-15, Tylai Kimble 1-15.