Pioneers mash Bluefield's playoff hopes
Bluefield (3) vs. Wayne (54)
Written: Nov 05, 2011
By TOM BONE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD — Bluefield head football coach Fred Simon evoked an old saying Friday night, shortly after the Wayne Pioneers wreaked a 54-3 victory against the Beavers at a chilly Mitchell Stadium.
“What goes around, comes around sometimes,” he said. “We’ve given them some tough defeats, and they gave us one. I hope they win it all.”
Bluefield (4-5), which entered the game No. 16 in the official rankings, had just the tiniest glimmer of hope at game’s end that they would make next weekend’s playoffs — if other teams “on the bubble” lost as well, and those outcomes were still unclear late Friday night.
Wayne (8-2) won its fifth straight game and avenged a 54-8 loss to Bluefield last fall.
Pioneers quarterback Tyler Adkins said, “We just played really hard, and came out with a big win. We thought we had some business to finish from last year.”
“We were ready to take care of things,” said Wayne defensive lineman Allen Bryant, who was unstoppable. He notched 12 tackles and caught a pair of two-point conversion passes.
“They’re always a good team,” he said about Bluefield. “We knew that. ... They’re always good in the playoffs. We knew if we gave them a loss, we were kicking them out.”
Bluefield started sophomore Justin Carter at quarterback due to an ankle injury suffered last week by D.J. Edwards in the Beavers’ win last Friday at James Monroe. Carter threw the ball 29 times, completing 12 passes for 99 yards.
Simon said about Carter’s effort, “I thought he did a nice job. ... I think he’s got some promise for next year.”
The coach said about Edwards, “He hurt his ankle last week, and fortunately, played through it, throughout the game. He just couldn’t go tonight.”
An unhappy Carter said after the Beavers broke their last postgame huddle at the stadium, “I just tried to help the team out tonight, and I couldn’t do it.”
He said Edwards helped him prepare for his first start. “He told me not to force anything, just to be patient, and everything will work out,” Carter said.
Everything worked out for the visitors and their power run game in the first half, scoring touchdowns on all of their first six possessions. Their only other drive was stopped when time ran out in the half.
Wayne head coach Tom Harmon said, “The big thing is, you always strive for perfection. The first six possessions, we did about as good as we could do.”
On the fourth play of the contest, Adkins dashed 49 yards to the end zone. Bluefield answered with an 11-play drive. With one second remaining on the play clock, kicker Justin Mariotti calmly kicked a 41-yard field goal to cut the lead to 6-3.
It was mostly all Wayne after that. Adkins scored on a 43-yard run, threw his only pass of the night to freshman Mason Hodge for a 68-yard touchdown, and used a nifty spin move to cross the goal line again late in the first half.
His fourth two-point conversion pass lifted the Pioneers to a 46-3 halftime advantage. He had four runs for 117 yards, all in the first half.
Adkins said, “I don’t think I’ve ever had a first half like that. My blocking was incredible. I just found the hole and ran as hard as I could.”
Simon said, “The quarterback ran better than I thought he would. Maybe not better than he thought. They had nice holes for him.”
Harmon said about Adkins’ evening, “Good teams are going to take away something from you. This year, we’ve got several players who can do the job when you get the ball in their hands. It was Tyler’s turn tonight.”
One of the bright spots of the second half for Bluefield was a rattling block issued by Brandon Eldridge on a punt return that brought cheers from the stands.
“We practice that punt return, every single practice,” he said. “I just did what the coaches told me to do. Wayne didn’t see it coming. ... Everything just fell into place and I took full advantage of it.”
Reserve running backs D.J. Stewart, Marqi Dowell and Kyshon Lee showed their stuff in Bluefield’s last series, which fizzled out on the game’s last play, an incomplete pass into the end zone.
Bluefield seniors Brad Fox and Jeff James led the Beavers’ receiving corps with 51 and 25 yards respectively. Montel Leggett ran eight times for 30 yards.
Brandon Spurlock, Hodge and Adkins each picked off passes for Wayne.
Simon said about Wayne, “They did a nice job tonight. They ran well, they blocked well, they tackled well. They just out-played us tonight.
“I wish them the best of luck. I think they’re a fine football team and I think they definitely have a chance to win it all, and I hope they do.”
He said Wayne is “one of the few” schools in Class AA that agrees to play the Beavers. “They’re a first-class operation.”
Harmon said, “There’s a lot of pride down here (in Bluefield), people who care a whole lot about how their football team does, and that usually it shows up on the football field. Wayne is a similar community to that.”
“Generally, when those two teams get together, something’s going to happen, and it happened on our side tonight.”
Adkins said, “This is a huge momentum-builder for the playoffs. Just huge.”
James said about his football career, “It’s been great. ... I have a championship ring. ... I’ve made a lot of friends on this team — I mean, brothers. I will always love this program.”
He said, “Obviously, it’s a rebuilding year. We had lost a lot of great linemen. And Wayne had their whole team back and they played hard. I really think they have a chance of winning it all.”
Senior lineman Kayla York said about being on the team, “It’s meant the world to me. I really think it’s shaped me into who I am.” She said Friday’s result was “really hard. ... It didn’t happen for us. But I wish the best of luck to future teams.”
Eldridge, a junior, wasn’t wasting any time in transition to his winter sport. “I love football, but my mind’s just switched from football to wrestling,” he said.
— Contact Tom Bone at
tbone@bdtonline.com
At Mitchell Stadium
Wayne.............14 32 0 8 — 54
Bluefield..........3 0 0 0 — 3
First Quarter
WHS – Tyler Adkins 49 run (run failed), 10:02
BHS – Justin Mariotti 41 FG, 4:34
WHS – Adkins 43 run (Brandon Spurlock run), 1:44
Second Quarter
WHS – Mason Hodge 68 pass from Adkins (Allen Bryant pass from Adkins), 11:50
WHS – Spurlock 3 run (Austin Pyles pass from Adkins), 9:21
WHS – Spurlock 4 run (Bryant pass from Adkins), 7:09
WHS – Adkins 5 run (Hodge pass from Adkins), 3:34
Fourth Quarter
WHS – James Egnor 1 run (Egnor run), 4:45
———
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Wayne, Brandon Spurlock 13-79, Tyler Adkins 4-117, Allen Bryant 11-4, Paden Thompson 12-53, Nathan Spurlock 1-19, Mason Hodge 2-15, Jacob Dingess 1-(-2), Steven Perry 5-11, Grant Ferguson 3-56. Bluefield, Montel Leggett 8-30, Justin Carter 3-(-10), C.J. Manns 4-(-5), Brad Fox 1-0, D.J. Stewart 3-22, Marqi Dowell 3-23, Kyshon Lee 2-11.
PASSING — Wayne, Adkins 1-1-68 yds.-1 TD-0 intc. Bluefield, Carter 12-29-99-0-3; R.J. Bourne 0-2-0-0-0.
RECEIVING — Wayne, Hodge 1-68. Bluefield, Fox 6-51, Leggett 3-17, Brandon Lilly 1-6, Jeff James 2-25.
|