Gallery by Greg Barnett
Bluefield – In a battle of speed, it was refinement and precision that won the day.
Princeton wide receiver Dominick Collins had a career night Friday, running through the Bluefield secondary and hauling in nine catches for 171 yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers dispatched their Mercer County rivals 28-7 at Mitchell Stadium.
While Collins was a game breaker for the Tigers, he was ultimately a cog in a lethal passing attack that guided the Tigers throughout the evening.
After Bluefield defensive back Bryson Redmond intercepted Princeton QB Grant Cochran on his second pass of the game, the senior signal caller proceeded to complete 23 of his next 28, finishing with 288 yards passing. It was a shift from a strategy that paid dividends against the Beavers last year when Princeton kept the ball on the ground, but one Princeton coach Chris Pedigo felt comfortable with after all-state lineman Eli Campbell left in the first quarter with a leg injury.
“We tried to take advantage of some things,” Pedigo said. “We felt like we would come in and identify what we thought they would do. They didn’t play a bunch of (two safeties deep) against Graham but Graham’s running the football. They ran more two-high and we had some wide receivers tonight that did well. Carter (Meachum) didn’t catch a lot of balls and Nik (Flemming) didn’t either but they blocked their asses off. We did some really good things getting Brad (Mossor) out in space and, dude I’m just happy. I’m happy for our football team and our program.”
Outside of a few isolated plays, the defenses for both teams held the fort, aided and plagued by mistakes. A penalty on the opening kickoff foreshadowed what was a messy night as Princeton was flagged 15 times to the tune of 113 yards while Bluefield fared no better with 10 miscues that cost the Beavers 136 yards.
The early results were a pair of drives for each team that ended the same way – with a punt and interception each. While Princeton’s turnover proved less costly, Bluefield’s, an interception thrown to Collins at the Princeton 5, killed a 52-yard drive that had the Beavers on the cusp of the red zone.
The stalemate carried into the second quarter with a pair of punts kicking off the frame before Cochran and the screen game clicked for Princeton. A pair of passes to Collins and Marquel Lowe, a 15-yard completion by Cochran sandwiched by three Brodee Rice runs, a 19-yard completion to Carter Meachum and finally a 26-yard touchdown pass to Collins on a screen capped an eight-play 87 yard drive that accounted for the only score of the half.
WR screen to Collins for the first score pic.twitter.com/JKxOZGlD30
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) September 3, 2022
Aiming for separation, penalties bogged the Tigers down throughout the third and in turn gave Bluefield life.
On the Beavers’ second drive of the second half a late hit on Bluefield QB Caleb Fuller and an offsides penalty a play later helped Bluefield advance to the Princeton 33. Three straight totes by Amir Hairston, highlighted by a 22-yard rush and eventual two-yard touchdown run, knotted the game.
Hairston in for Bluefield’s TD pic.twitter.com/m3b3sKXLcW
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) September 3, 2022
“We’re trying to find ourselves and we’re still looking,” Bluefield head coach Fred Simon said. “We’re looking to pass, looking to run or whatever it takes. We got one good drive on the run and they kind of snuffed it a little bit after that.”
The run proved to be the last bit of excitement the Beaver faithful were treated to.
Princeton’s next two drives ended in touchdown passes to Collins, the latter a deflating backbreaker. Leading 14-7, Cochran connected with freshman Brad Mossor for a touchdown that was called back, on a holding penalty, putting the Tigers in a second-and-24. It didn’t matter as Cochran connected with Collins for the final time on the evening on the very next play, hitting him down the left sideline for a 56-yard scoring strike.
“He’s fast,” Simon said of Collins. “They’ve got a four-year starter at quarterback and he’s a good quarterback. He ain’t no slouch. They had a good gameplan and they got it out there quick to their fast guys and it’s smart.”
“I’ve done a lot of training in the offseason and plays have opened up for me and coach has got me the ball. I always keep my feet moving and keep going.”
While Collins and the Princeton offense enjoyed a successful night, capped by a Marquel Lowe touchdown to account for the final score, Bluefield’s usually potent offense never could find a rhythm, going 4-for-14 on third down conversion attempts and 1 of 3 on fourth down.
“We talked about the keys to the win and it was if we kept them to under four big plays, we felt like we were going to put ourselves in position to win. I don’t know how many plays of 20 or more or 15 for more that they got but it wasn’t a whole lot. We play a bend don’t break defense but we feel like we have some guys that are pretty athletic and can matchup well with anybody. I thought Dom played a really good game on defense but we still weren’t fundamentally sound. They hurt us on the edge a little bit and we’ve got to do a better job of containing but our kids didn’t stop fighting.”
For the Beavers it was another frustrating night plagued with inconsistencies.
“We’ve got to focus and make plays when we’ve got to,” Simon said. “I just don’t see the team I want to yet. We’ll keep battling and trying and hopefully it’ll come before too long.”
Bluefield drops to 0-2 and will host Pulaski, Va. on Thursday night. Princeton improves to 2-0 and will travel to Oak Hill on Friday.
Scoring Plays
Q2
P: Collins 26-yard pass from Cochran (Geso PAT), 2:52
Q3
B: Amir Hairston 2 rush (Parris PAT), 7:00
P: Collins 13-yard pass from Cochran (PAT Geso), 3:24
Q4
P: Collins 56-yard pass from Cochran (PAT Geso), 10:27
P: Lowe 5 rush (Geso PAT), :48
Individual Statistics
Rushing – P: Lowe 11-72-1 TD, Rice 9-40, Cochran 3-13; B: Amir Hairston 13-84-1 TD, Kiean Smith 5-33, Caleb Fuller 7-19, Shawn Hale 1-8, Gerrard Wade 3-4
Passing – P: Cochran 24-29-288-3 TDs-1 INT; B: Fuller 16-28-161-0-2 INTs
Receiving – P: Collins 9-171-3 TDs, Mossor 7-61, Meachum 2-21, Lowe 3-12, Rice 2-8, Digiacomo 1-15; B: RJ Hairston 2-52, Fields 6-39, Fong 3-39, Hale 3-23, Amir Hairston 2-8
