Gallery by Greg Barnett
Bluefield – After collecting just 40 yards of total offense last week at Oak Hill and suffering its first shutout since 2005, Bluefield eclipsed that yardage total on its fourth offensive play Thursday, foreshadowing the offensive success.
Gerrard Wade’s 59-yard touchdown run set the tone for the Beavers who scored touchdowns on their first four possessions in a 47-13 win over Giles, Va. on senior night at Mitchell Stadium in Bluefield.
The win was No. 300 in the storied career of Fred Simon, making him only the second head coach in state history to reach that mark and the only head coach to do it with one program. Martinsburg’s David Walker, the other member of the 300-win club, split his victories between East Hardy and Martinsburg.
It’s a mark Simon never thought about hitting when he took the head coaching job at his alma mater in 1986.
“I wouldn’t even have imagined it,” Simon said. “You don’t even think about it that way. I love coaching and I love playing football and you just battle and try to keep chasing and chasing to try and win state championships and make them the best they can be. But I never dreamed or thought about it then.”
In their last home game of the season the Beavers pieced together their best offensive performance of the year, throwing for a season-high 235 yards and adding 233 yards on the ground. They scored touchdowns on six of their eight drives with the seventh halted due to the end of the half and the eighth played with reserves in the game. For good measure they added a seventh score courtesy of a 70-yard kickoff return from Jeff King.
It was a breath of fresh air for the hosts who put the miserable showing against Oak Hill behind them.
“The way our team is our QB never got much of a chance in that mess,” Simon said. “It would’ve favored Oak Hill too but it’s just nice to get (QB Bryson Redmond) into three games or four where he’s finally got a little bit of a rhythm because he didn’t get that chance. And we have a center that’s basically played three games so we’re trying and we’re trying hard.”
While they eventually raced past the Spartans, the Beavers appeared headed for another slugfest.
Running the single-wing, the Spartans took the opening kick 47 yards in nine plays, consuming almost seven minutes on a drive that ended with an 18-yard scoring jaunt by Khalik Saunders.
Wade’s 59-yard burst two minutes later served as an answer while previewing the big-play clinic the Beavers put on all evening.
Redmond got in on the action on the following drive for the Beavers, tossing a 57-yard scoring strike to R.J. Hairston near the end of the opening quarter. The senior QB followed it up by calling his own number on the Beavers’ first drive of the second quarter, scoring from six yards out after hitting Hairston for a gain of 46 to set the run up.
Giles took to the air for its answer with Jackson Parsell hitting Aaron Miller on a 65-yard touchdown pass to make it 19-13 but King’s return score squashed that momentum and the Beavers built upon it when Redmond and Hairston hooked up for a 70-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 33-13.
The Spartans found life out of the break when they recovered an onside kick and marched 57 yards to the Bluefield 1 but the Beavers stopped them at that spot on three consecutive plays to force a turnover on downs. A 46-yard touchdown pass to Sencere Fields capped the six-play, 99-yard drive, putting the Spartans away.
After the first series the visitors were largely held in check.
“We made one adjustment on the line and said we needed to be calm because it’s hard when you haven’t seen (the single wing),” Simon said. “You see it a little while and get used to it and I thought we were patient and got used to it after a little while.”
Bluefield finished with 468 yards of total offense – 235 through the air and 233 on the ground – while scoring touchdowns on six of its 24 plays with nine of those plays coming with backups in the game.
Bryson Redmond led the way with all 235 yards through the air on five completions with three passing scores. R.J. Hairston hauled in four of those completions for 189 yards and two scores. Gerrard Wade led the ground assault with 89 yards and a touchdown on three carries.
Up next for the Beavers is a Week 11 trip to Class A James Monroe. Should the Beavers win they’ll likely clinch a playoff berth for the seventh consecutive season.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpres.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
G: 7 6 0 0 – 13
B: 12 21 7 7 – 47
Scoring Plays
Q1
