Quickness prevails: Bluefield pulls away from Princeton Tigers
Bluefield (40) vs. Princeton (21)
Written: Sep 06, 2014
By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD — It was ball control versus quick strike.
Quick strike won.
Princeton held the ball for all but 31 seconds of the third quarter and the first 1:42 of the fourth period to narrow the margin to 28-21 with 10:18 left in the game.
All Bluefield (2-0) did was respond with a 4-play, 49-yard drive, with D.J. Stewart scoring his third touchdown of the game, and Beavers were able to pull away for a 40-21 win over Princeton on a muggy Friday night at Mitchell Stadium.
“Two rivals in a row, baby,” said Bluefield head coach Fred Simon, whose Beavers defeated Graham 76-48 a week ago. “We definitely know we have got things to work on and once we look at film we will see what happens.”
Princeton (1-1), which won its opener 55-7 over Shady Spring, fell behind 21-0 just 3:35 into the second quarter, and had been outgained 227-15 at the point, having lost three fumbles — including touching a punt that led to a score — and also losing an onside kick to the Beavers.
“We spotted them 21, a young team like that, that is probably the worst half of football I have seen for mental mistakes, but that is what you get with a young team,” Princeton head coach Randy Peek said. “We have a lot of work to do and we will get back after it Monday and get ready for Capital.”
Bluefield wasted no time getting on the board, with Malik Craighead recovering a fumble by Zack Standifur on Princeton’s second play from scrimmage, and the Beavers took over at the 44. Three plays later, D.J. Stewart broke a few tackles and ran 46 yards for the touchdown.
R.J. Bourne followed with the conversion run for an 8-0 just 1:57 into the game.
No one was happier than Bourne with the win. The senior quarterback fumbled at the goal line on the final play of last year’s game at Princeton, enabling the Tigers to escape with the 32-29 win.
“Last year when that happened to me I never came out for the whole weekend,” Bourne said. “I barely wanted to come out for the whole next week, I didn’t even want to show my face and I am glad to prove to Bluefield that I am back.”
Bluefield, which recovered the ensuing onside kick, but then lost a fumble, got a break when a Princeton player touched a punt before it had been downed at the Tigers’ 21. Three plays later, Stewart scored from 3 yards out for the 14-0 lead.
A third score came when Carlos Reed’s 31-yard run on the Beavers’ second possession of the second quarter set up a 16-yard scoring pass from Bourne to Reed for the 21-0 lead with 8:25 on the clock.
Princeton, which finally got its first down with 8:15 to go in the second quarter, put together its first extended drive, keyed by a 23-yard run by Jay Palmer. He would later connect with Jordan Jones for a 16-yard scoring toss to narrow the margin to 21-7 at the break.
“I was a little concerned, I thought everybody had dropped down and we had gave up but we went in at halftime and we had a good speech,” Jones said. “Me and Jay Palmer, we had to talk some sense into the team and tell them we came down from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter last year and anything can happen.
“We told them that and we came out with a little spark.”
It was Bluefield that had the spark to open the second half, with a 52-yard run by Stewart followed by a 2-yard plunge by Coppola for the touchdown. Tyler Easley’s second extra point made it 28-7 just 31 seconds in.
That is when Princeton took control, going on a 14-play, 64-yard drive, with Jones scoring from six yards out. That came on a fourth down play in which the Beavers stopped the Tigers three times from the 1 before a delay of game penalty pushed the ball back to the 6.
“A nice goal line stand out there, it would have been nice if we could have held them out there, but we found a way a win and once we got the ball we pounded and they never could stop us,” Simon said. “Hats off to our team and I am happy with the win, it is great to be 2-0.”
Jones then recovered an onside kick, and 12 plays later, Jones scored again, this time from 2 yards to cut the lead to 28-21.
“The onside kick is what killed us, you have got to get the ball,” Simon said. “We didn’t mind them scoring, we had the lead, they can take 20 minutes, 10 minutes, but you have got to get the onside kick.”
Another onside kick attempt was recovered by Jones, but the ball didn’t travel the required 10 yards.
“We thought we had the onside kick right there too, a young team, we will get back to work Monday and we will try to correct some mistakes,” said Peek, whose Tigers played eight sophomores in the game.
Bluefield answered quickly, with a four-play drive, including runs of 26 and 13 yards by Coppola, another 7 from Bourne, and the final 3 by Stewart to push the lead to 34-21.
“We can’t allow anybody to do that,” Jones said. “That is game-changing right there, that just changed the momentum so quick.”
Princeton drove the ball back down the field, but Coppola recovered a fumble from Kevin Phillips at the Bluefield 27. With the Tigers out of timeouts, the Beavers methodically drove the ball downfield, scoring on a 1-yard run by Masterson with 1:16 left in the game.
“I knew then, we can just run it and run it,” Simon said. “It was neat that they never got the ball back, we just kept moving it and moving it.”
Bluefield, which had 204 yards in the opening quarter, finished with 412 for the game, led by Stewart with 147 yards and three touchdowns. Coppola added 97 yards and a score. Bourne threw for 90 yards, with Reed catching four for 47 yards.
Princeton, which had just five first quarter yards and 102 at the break, finished with 289, led by Jones, who ran for 91 yards and three touchdowns, while also catching two passes for 23 yards and completing a pass for 33 more. Palmer ran for 89 yards for the Tigers, which was able to control the ball for much of the second half behind Standifur, who had 50 hard-earned yards.
“That was our game plan, ball control, that is our offense, but they did a good job on defense,” Peek said. “They shut us down and we just made the mental errors.”
“I was happy with our defense, we did better,” added Simon. “Again basically we only have one or two guys that have played. We have got to keep working them to get them better, but they were pretty aggressive and I am proud of them. The offense moved the ball like it has been.”
Princeton returns to action on Friday by hosting Capital, which defeated the Tigers in overtime last season.
“I thought we could win tonight, I really did and I think our kids thought we could win,” Peek said. “They will be down a couple of days, but it is our job to get them back up and we will keep working.”
Meanwhile, Bluefield will have a week off before traveling to Gate City on Sept. 19.
“We have to watch our films very closely and see what we need to work on, Simon said, “and do our best to work on it.”
at Mitchell Stadium
Princeton..........0 7 7 7 — 21
Bluefield.............14 7 7 12 — 40
Scoring
First Quarter
BF—D.J. Stewart 46 run (R.J. Bourne run) 10:03
BF—Stewart 3 run (run failed) 1:02
Second Quarter
BF—Carlos Reed 16 pass from Bourne (Tyler Easley kick) 8:25
PR—Jordan Jones 16 pass from Jay Palmer (Jacob Whittington kick) 1:!5
Third Quarter
BF—Corey Coppola 2 run (Easley kick) 11:29
PR—Jones 6 run (Whittington kick) 4:01
Fourth Quarter
PR—Jones 2 run (Whittington kick) 10:18
BF—Stewart 3 run (kick failed) 8:49
BF—Jordan Masterson (kick blocked) 1:16
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Team Statistics
First Downs: PR 16; BF 19. Rush-Yards: PR 53-233; BF 34-312. Pass Yards: PR 56; BF 90. Total Yards: PR 289; BF 412. Comp-Att-Int: PR 3-8-1; BF 7-11-1. Fumbles-Lost: PR 5-3; BF 3-1. Penalty-Yards: PR 5-18; BF 8-65. Punts-Avg: PR 2-27.0; BF 2-26.5.
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Individual Statistics
Rushing: PR Jones 15-91, Palmer 18-89, Zack Standifur 15-50, Kevin Phillips 3-12, Austin Fulp 1-(-6). BF Stewart 12-147, Coppola 10-97, Reed 4-47, Bourne 7-30, Masterson 1-1.
Passing: PR Palmer 6-2-1 int-23-1 td, Jones 1-1-0-33-0, Barrett 1-0-0-0-0; Bourne 11-7-1 int-90-1 td.
Receiving: PR Jones 2-23, Grant Rotenberry 1-33; BF Reed 4-47, Mookie Collier 1-28, Coppola 1-8, Masterson 1-7.
Field goals: PR none; BF none.
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