Bluefield – Last season yielded uncharacteristic results for Bluefield.
The Beavers stumbled through the season, never finding a stride as they finished 4-6.
The good news? The last time the Beavers finished 4-6 and missed the postseason (2016) they rebounded with a 14-0 state championship campaign. Doing so this year won’t be easy with the loss of several all-state starters such as Sencere Fields and R.J. Hairston but the Beavers still return a talented bunch in a new Class AA.
“It’s gonna be a battle,” veteran head coach Fred Simon said. “We’ll see. We’ve got some good speed and we’re not huge. Got one good-sized back being Ty Patton. The others are quick and fast so we’ll put it together somehow, some way, whether we’re running or passing. And the guys that are to me, that are running back-type potential or receivers are Kisean Smith, Jeff King, JoJo Campbell and Willis Wilson.”
For the fourth year in a row the Beavers will also be replacing their starting QB. Fields and Bryson Redmond, who split time at the position last year have graduated, leaving an open competition between freshman Max Simpson and junior Ricky Dunford.
Though regardless of the starter the Beavers seemingly have an offensive approach in mind for the 2024 season.
“Anytime we’ve ever been very successful in having a run at the playoffs and winning it all, we’ve been a running team.” Simon said. “I don’t care what year you want to pick – 1997 and move on up the ladder. We had excellent backs that blocked well for each other. We could throw the ball when we needed to. As the season went on, everything developed and we finally got better.
“We’ll lean on the run, but we’ll also be able to throw too as we get into it, and both quarterbacks can throw the ball, and can throw it short or long. If you use play action, they fall asleep and they’ll be wide open. So we’ve got to get the running game going. From there we go to the passing game. But whatever’s open, we’ve always been pretty good at figuring out what they’re giving us as weakness.”
The quarterback position won’t be the only impactful spot within the program to see change on the offensive side of the ball.
Simon’s son Fritz resigned following the season after coordinating the offense for 20 years, helping the Beavers to four state championships in the process.
Stepping to the plate will be Don Jones.
“That’s really hard and kind of neat,” Simon said. “And I’m missing him just being around because your son is blood and heart. It’s just neat to have him around, almost like having your grandkids around and whatever you want to do with family. And he was very intelligent on what to do with what we had. So we’ll miss him. As far as him being around here, being here 20 years is tough, especially on me. Now I’m ready to always move to the next level, but the son makes it a little bit different.
“But Don Jones, who’s been with me a while, and is old-school – he went to (Bluefield), he went to Graham with Coach (Glynn) Carlock, who coached me too. So he’s got a good idea of what it takes, and he’ll do a fine job for us at the offensive coordinator. And I trust him, because I didn’t want to bring somebody in that I don’t even know. And he knows what’s going on. It’ll take us a little while to adjust to his terminology with the players but we’ll be fine.”
While most of Jones’ skill players are green, Simon believes that this year’s offensive line should be one of the better ones since the ’17 and ’18 lines.
“We have three returning starters that we feel like had a good offseason,” Simon said. “They’ve worked hard, and our fourth lineman played quite a bit last year. But the three that I want to mention are Grady Woods at guard, Justin King at guard and Jaden Francisco at a tackle. Those three guys are quick. Francisco’s about 250 and Justin King’s about 240. Grady’s about 210 and they can run. I mean, those guys are full back or tight ends in an old-school offense and they can run. And so we’re gonna be able to pull them some and they’re quick, they’ll be good on defense, and we’ll base it around them.”
The Beavers face another challenging schedule this season with seven of their 10 foes hailing from higher classes than they do. Bluefield landed in the new Class AA after a fourth class was added to the field last December. Of the three Class AA schools on the schedule, two (James Monroe and Independence) were state semifinalists last year after earning state championship berths in 2022.
“I feel like if we get in with the schedule we play, we’ll have a chance,” Simon said.
Bluefield opens its season Aug. 30 against Graham, Va.
