Beavers bounced: Jelich guides Red Devils past Bluefield
Bluefield (41) vs. Ravenswood (42)
Written: Nov 16, 2014
By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD — Rhys Jelich and the Ravenswood Red Devils came to Mitchell Stadium on Saturday looking to turn some heads.
They did just that.
“We shocked the state,” Jelich said. “That was always our word all week.”
Jelich completed a 10-yard pass to Issac Crow and Preston Humphreys added the extra point with 44 seconds left in the game, and No. 14 Ravenswood shocked No. 3 Bluefield 42-41 in the opening round of the Class AA playoffs.
Bluefield, which had won five straight entering the game — including last week’s 19-14 win at Wayne — finished its season with a 9-2 record.
“It is a disappointing day, that is all I can tell you,” Bluefield head coach Fred Simon said. “There is nothing I can do about it, it is time to move on.”
Ravenswood, which lost to Bluefield in the opening round last season, will visit Westside next weekend.
“We don’t care (who we play),” Ravenswood head coach Mick Price said. “We are going, whatever time, we are going to go, and we are tickled to death to be going.”
Bluefield rallied from a 35-7 halftime deficit to take a 41-35 lead with 2:18 left in the game, but Tyler Easley’s extra point attempt missed its mark.
Ravenswood (8-3) responded with a 8-play, 69-yard drive, keyed by a 58-yard catch and run from Jelich to Dylan Radabaugh to the Bluefield 21. Jelich was able to convert a first down run on 3rd and 1 to the 10, and two plays later connected with Crow for the tying score.
Humphreys extra point proved to be the difference.
“As soon as Preston came off, I just grabbed him and told him that is what you have got to do,” said Jelich, whose Red Devils are 2-1 against Bluefield in the postseason. “It was great.”
Bluefield had one more opportunity, but R.J. Bourne’s desperation heave to the end zone from the 50 was knocked to the ground.
“As soon as I saw it tipped up in the air and hit the ground, the celebration started,” Jelich said. “That is when they started rushing the field, it was amazing.”
So was Jelich. The 5-foot-9 senior finished the game with 526 yards, including 325 passing and 201 rushing, while accounting for all six touchdowns, three on the ground and three through the air.
“He is a good football player, a good player,” Simon said. “He is a winner.”
“He is a great quarterback,” added Bluefield senior D.J. Stewart. “He came out here and played hard. He did what he had to do, he led his team and I respect him for it and I hope they go far.”
Stewart had his own remarkable final game, rushing for 304 yards, including second half touchdowns from 3, 81 and 77 yards. He also had a late interception that set up the Beavers final score.
“I knew my team needed me, I needed to step up, and I was a senior,” Stewart said. “Big players make big plays so I just tried everything I could just to get us to play more games.”
Instead, the Red Devils will play on.
“We are going to celebrate it tonight, I am tickled for our kids,” said Price, whose Red Devils had dropped two straight entering the playoffs. “We have got our confidence back, we kind of staggered into the postseason, but I knew we could be like this if we wanted to, I am just so tickled for our kids.”
Ravenswood dominated from the start, building a 35-7 halftime lead, with Jelich accumulating 380 yards, including 182 and scoring runs of 1, 4 and 33 yards, and also threw for 198, including touchdown passes of 21 and 9 yards.
“We have never thrown that much all season,” Jelich said. “Coach (Steve) Sturm had a great game plan coming in. We saw some games before where teams have spread it out and had a lot of success with them so Coach Strum came up with that game plan and it worked great.”
All three of his touchdown passes went to 6-5 Issac Crow, who finished with seven receptions for 97 yards. In all, six different receivers caught passes, led by Crow, Matt Peery (3-94), Radabaugh (4-82) and Ben Johnson 6-36.
“The receivers did great,” Jelich said. “Crow, you just put it up there and he will go and get it.”
Bluefield’s lone first half score was a 14-yard keeper by R.J. Bourne to narrow the first quarter deficit to 14-7. Three turnovers proved costly to the Beavers, including a strip of Carlos Reed by Alex Casto that was recovered at the 1 by Matthew Sharcher.
Reed, who had 71 yards on four touches, was injured later in the quarter and didn’t play after the break. Bourne only completed four passes in the game for 30 yards.
“We played a really good football team today, we knew that we played great and they didn’t play very good in the first half,” Price said. “I, as a coach, knew exactly what was going to happen in the second half.
“I knew they were going to come out with a hornet, I knew and they did, my gosh, they came out with a vengeance. I don’t think it was anything our kids did that was much different, I just think they came out and played at another level.”
It was all Bluefield for much of the second half, with the Beavers scoring 21 third quarter points, starting with a 28-yard interception by Justin Masterson. Stewart would follow with three touchdowns, eventually tying the score at 35 with 5:28 left in the game.
Stewart then picked off a pass, which set up a 3-yard run by Corey Coppola for the 41-35 lead, but Easley missed the extra point with 2:18 on the clock.
“We dug ourselves a hole,” Simon said, “but I am proud of our players for what they did,”
That set up more heroics by Jelich, who fired a short pass to Crow, who literally took the ball away from Mookie Collier in the end zone for the typing score. Humphreys’ extra point was good.
Stewart is one of a dozen Bluefield players who saw their careers come to end with the loss. He’ll definitely miss playing for the Beavers.
“It has been an honor,” Stewart said. “Coming out here as a freshman and ending like this, I have been part of something great and I just love it. I will always love this program.”
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at Mitchell Stadium
Ravenswood.....................21 14 0 7 — 42
Bluefield............................7 0 21 13 — 41
Scoring
First Quarter
RW—Rhys Jelich 1 run (kick failed) 1049
RW—Issac Crow 21 pass from Jelich (Ben Johnson pass from Jelich) 6:42
BF—R.J. Bourne 14 run (Tyler Easley kick) 4:23
RW—Jelich 4 run (Preston Humphreys kick) 2:05
Second Quarter
RW—Crow 9 pass from Jelich (Humphreys kick) 7:25
RW—Jelich 33 run (Humphreys kick) :49
Third Quarter
BF—Justin Masterson 28 interception return (kick blocked) 8:58
BF—D.J. Stewart 2 run (Stewart run) 1:55
BF—Stewart 81 run (Easley kick) :50
Fourth Quarter
BF—Stewart 77 run (Easley kick) 5:28
BF—Corey Coppola 3 run (kick failed) 2:18
RW—Crow 10 pass from Jelich (Humphreys kick) :44
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Team Statistics
First downs: RW 24, BF 16. Rush-Yards: RW 39-200, BF 47-462. Pass Yards: RW 324, BF 30. Total yards: RW 525, BF 484. Comp-Att-Int: RW 21-43-2, BW 4-13-2. Fumbles-Lost: RW 3-0, BF 3-3. Penalty-Yards: RW 3-14, BF 5-37. Punts-Avg: RW 5-28.8, BF 2-27.0
———
Individual Statistics
Rushing: RW Rhys Jelich 38-201, Matt Peery 1-(-1), BF D.J. Stewart 16-304, Carlos Reed 4-71, R.J. Bourne 6-40, Corey Coppola 8-32, Mookie Collier 3-15.
Passing: RW Rhys Jelich 22-42-2 int-325-3 td, Issac Crow 0-1-0-0-0. BF R.J. Bourne 4-13-2 int-30-0 td.
Receiving: RW Issac Crow 7-97, Matt Peery 3-94, Dylan Radabaugh 4-82, Ben Johnson 6-36, Thomas Sturm 1-11, Alex Casto 1-4. BF Marcus Santoro 2-21, Marqi Dowell 1-5, Mookie Collier 1-4.
Takeaways: RW Matthew Starcher fumble recovery, Alex Casto fr, Rhys Jenich fr, Issac Crow interception, Ben Johnson int. BF Justin Masterson int, D.J. Stewart, int.
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