Gallery by Heather Belcher
Coal City – The early start time and finish for the Class AA semifinal gave the Independence faithful time to return to shopping on Black Friday, though they’ll probably be searching for hotel deals in Wheeling.
The host Patriots overcame a 20-7 halftime deficit, scoring 27 unanswered points in the second half to cap a comeback and beat Bluefield 34-20 in the Class AA semifinal Friday in Coal City.
With the win Independence advances to its first championship game in program history.
Early it looked like another rout for the Beavers who came in with four straight title game appearances.
After scoring on drives of 57 and 80 yards to go up 13-7, a 19-yard scoop-and-score by Sencere Fields on a fumbled reverse by Independence allowed the Beavers a 20-7 advantage heading into the locker room.
The hosts were unfazed.
“At halftime we went in and knew the game wasn’t over,” Independence running back Atticus Goodson said. “We’ve put up 74 points and we’ve put up 50 in a half so we knew that we could comeback. We knew it wasn’t that big of deficit so we just came out and worked.”
While Goodson’s contributions on the ground were a large part of the win, it was a pass from the senior that likely saved the season.
Trailing by two scores in the third quarter and facing fourth-and-9 from the Bluefield 31, Indy head coach John H. Lilly lined Goodson up at QB and called a play he’s been holding for two years. With little hope of a completion post-snap, Goodson scrambled to his right and threw the ball into an open space at the 10. It landed in the arms of his younger brother Cyrus, who hauled it in for a gain of 21 yards. On the next play it was the elder Goodson again as he scored from 10 yards out to make it a 20-14 game.
“That’s Coach (Kevin) Grogg’s play,” Lilly said. “We even call that Grogg’s pass. We’ve been practicing that for about two years and we never did it but he talked me into doing it and we got lucky with it. He got off the play and got hit while he was throwing it but yeah, I think that was a clutch play.”
The following drive held more of the same with Indy marching 61 yards, capping it with another Atticus Goodson score to tie the game at 20.
The death blow came soon after.
Facing third-and-3 from at their own 44, Bluefield QB Ryker Brown was intercepted by Cyrus Goodson who returned the ball 48 yards for a score on the first play of the fourth quarter.
“They were going into the wind so I was surprised they even threw it,” Lilly said. “That was a clutch play by Cyrus. We were in nickel so we told them go ahead and cheat up because we had the safeties over the top and we had Cyrus on (Jacorian Green) and Trey (Bowers) came up with a big interception on the other side. It was a good job by Coach (Scott) Cuthbert.”
While Indy thrived on both sides of the ball, the Beavers didn’t have the same luck. It stemmed mostly from the fact Brown, the team’s starting linebacker as well, hurt his leg in the first half.
“I tell ya what hurt us a lot and that was Ryker getting hurt – he tore his calf muscle,” Bluefield coach Fred Simon said. “Not having him offensively and defensively as our leader, it limited us to what we could do. My hat’s off to them, they played their butt off and found a way to win. When you lose your leader on offense and defense as far as going 100 percent, it hurt us a little bit.”
Lilly and Co. diagnosed Brown’s injury immediately and took advantage.
“We saw it and we knew they were in trouble,” Lilly said. “We knew we could key in on their tailback.”
Goodson, who went over 5,000 yards rushing for his career, scored the final touchdown of the game with 5:25 left to help put it away. On the following Bluefield drive his teammate Trey Bowers sealed it, intercepting his fourth pass of the postseason with just over three minutes left.
With the win Lilly advances to his first title game in a coaching career that spans over 30 years.
“It’s 35 years,” Lilly said. “I’m not going to lie to you, these guys played really hard and I’m real proud of them.”
For Bluefield it’s the end of a stellar run that seemed improbable in October.
Sitting outside of the playoff ratings for most of the season due to Covid quarantines and shutdowns and even having to forfeit a game just to be eligible for the postseason, the Beavers slid into the playoffs as the No. 14 seed and won road games at Point Pleasant and North Marion.
“I think our kids showed a lot of character and I’m very proud of them for the year we had,” Simon said.
Amir Hairston led Bluefield with 141 yards on 23 carries. Brown scored the Beavers’ two offensive touchdowns on runs of one and two yards in the first half.
Atticus Goodson finished with 35 carries for 257 yards and three touchdowns while also completing a pass for 21 yards.
Independence improves to 11-0 and will face the winner of Fairmont Senior-Poca next Friday at Wheeling Island Stadium in the Class AA championship game.
