By LARRY HYPES

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

TAZEWELL, Va. — He showed up in the Nick of time.

Tazewell junior Nick Blankenship has been present to work day after day for two years in the weight room to add increase to his (now) 171-pound frame. Those days Blankenship devoted to Coach Shane Allen’s team are paying off at night. Friday nights, that is.

He pounded his way from his halfback slot through 20 carries against the big, strong Sullivan Central (Tenn.) Cougars last week. After every offensive series, No. 14 simply stayed on the field to take his place in the secondary at strong safety. It was a long evening, as usual, but the son and grandson of Bulldog standout players loved every minute of it.

Blankenship finished with a whopping 206 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns as well as a two-point conversion run. He scored on runs of 1, 32, and 42 yards. Defensively, he was in on eight tackles including six solo takedowns and a pair of assists.

Tazewell, now 3-0, blasted past the Cougars 56-23.

For his part in the big win, Blankenship earned the Pocahontas Coal Associatiom/Bluefield Daily Telegraph/Player of the Week award for the third week of the 2014 campaign.

“Blankenship has five touchdowns and 506 yards total offense heading into this week’s contest with Chilhowie.

“I am very humbled to earn this award,” Blankenship said. “Hundreds of players are involved in games all over the area every week and this is a select group. This is a very high honor and I appreciate it very much.

“I was fortunate to have won this late in the season last year and I know how special it is. I am honored to be included. More than that, Jesse Mountain could have won this award. He is one of those players who has the talent to possibly win any week during the season.”

Mountain, a senior both strong and fast at wide receiver, caught seven passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns, including scoring catches of 11, 48, and 54 yards. In addition, he was in on eight tackles and had a stop for a loss.

“Nick is one of those kids who is a joy to coach. You only have to tell him once and he gets to work to correct whatever it is that might need adjustment,” Allen said. “With him it’s always ‘yes sir’ ‘no sir’ in practice or in games. He is our defensive quarterback, calling the signals for defense. We ask a lot of him but he is willing to do whatever he can to make himself and make this team better. A coach has to be pleased with that kind of attitude.”

Blankenship joins a teammate, Malik Davis, as a 2014 honoree. Davis, who plays quarterback when Tazewell is on offense, won the award last week, marking the first time that Tazewell has ever had back-to-back winners and one of the few times the Bulldogs have had more than one player selected in any season.

Davis had another standout game against Sullivan Central, in fact, with nine carries for 90 yards rushing and then also had over 100 yards passing including three touchdown passes.

Blankenship knows the reason he was considered for this award — his team is playing very well. Four years ago, for example, Tazewell scored fewer than 50 regular season points. This season, the Bulldogs have put up 138 points in three games — an average of 46 points per game in wins over Virginia High, Graham, and Sullivan Central.

“This (award) shows how much football is really a team game,” Blankenship said. “This is not about me, it’s about having so many good teammates out there. We have worked together to make each other better.” he says, in addition to standout players like Mountain, Davis, wide receiver/ defensive back Juwan Jordan and Corey Brewster on the first unit, talented players like Chris Hall and T.J. Kitts make it both easier to find running room as well as tougher to stay ahead of the competition on his own team.

“We (players) do push each other,” Blankenship said. “It is not just the coaches trying to get us to do better.”

Blankenship also points to what he calls the “six keys to success” — the extended offensive line, including center Alex Hayes, guards Jake Harrison and Robert Beavers, tackles Andrew Comer and Dallas Perry, and fullback Garrett Jessee.

“They (the line) make it all happen,” grins Blankenship. “I’ve seen how hard they work in the weight room, in practice, and in games. Those guys are bigger, stronger, and better than they were a year ago.

“I try hard to do my best because they give their all to clear a hole for me to run through. I really respect what they do.”

Harrison says, “Nick is definitely one of our most important players. Any time he gets the ball, you just feel like something good is going to happen. You don’t mind blocking when a runner works that hard.

Of his style, Blankenship admits, “I am not a fancy runner with all kinds of exotic moves, I know that. My job is to run as hard as I can, get to the hole, and pick up as many yards as I can get. I’m not looking for the sideline, I’m looking upfield. We need yards, we need first downs. I have to help with that in any way I can.”

Mountain, a physically gifted player with a desire himself to play at the next level, appreciates having Blankenship follow Davis as a second winner of the award from the Bulldogs this season.

“I am proud of Nick,” notes Mountain. “He works hard and gives a good effort all the time. We try to help each other out there on defense — we both play both ways — as well as set some tone when we have the ball on offense.”

Blankenship says the excitement at Tazewell is like a ray of sunshine, but he and his teammates have to be thinking all the time.

“Our offense can score, or we believe it can, at any time. Still, the defense is what we have to focus on as the season gets longer and competition level goes up,” he said. ‘If we happen to make it to the playoffs, a good defense will be the key to winning. You can’t expect to outscore some of the teams on our schedule unless we play good defense.

“Coach (Steve) Mitchem has always preached that to us.”

Blankenship’s grandfather, Bill Benson, graduated from Tazewell in the mid-1950s and his father, Chris Blankenship, is an ‘85 grad. Both are avid fans and Nick admits he has listened to their advice about the best way to play the game. He enjoys having them be a part of his athletic endeavors.

“Dad and my Grandad are very supportive. Dad is always talking defense to me, too,” he laughs. “He sounds a lot like Coach Mitchem. He loves offense but deep down, he never gets very far away from being a defensive end.

“I believe he’s right, good defense is what it takes to have a winning team.”

Picking up a couple of hundred yards on Friday night doesn’t hurt, either.

Player of Week Honorable Mentions

Bland County: Austin Caudill 90-yd. fumble return for TD.

Graham: Dylan Cook 15-110 rushing.

Honaker: Casey Dye 3 TD passes. Austin Smith 114 yds. rushing, 1 TD.

Hurley: Brady Justice 257 yds. rushing, 4 TDs. Traquan Oliver 5-96 rushing, 1 TD. Zack Lester 53-yd. TD pass.

James Monroe:Reed McNeer 11-16-124 yds. passing, 1 TD; 13-28-3 TD rushing. Seth Havens 30-yd. TD catch, 27-yd. FG. Grant Mohler 12-93 rushing.

Montcalm: Dustin Williams 68 yds., 1 TD. Travis Poynter 65-yd. KR for TD. Dakota Conley 1 rushing TD.

Mount View: Timothy Nowlin 12-35 rushing. Kobe Brown 1-20 receiving.

Narrows: Jackson Blankenship 8-10-139 yds. passing, 3 TDs. Cole Blaker 1-1-77 yds. Landon Neal 2-101 yds. receiving, 3 XP kicks. Kyle Hall 3-61 yds. receiving, 1 TD.

PikeView: Danny Brown 16-56 rushing. Ty Hoston 6-20, 1 tD. Christian Taylor 6-20, 1 TD. Justin Hopper 105 yds. passing.

Princeton: Jordan Jones 11-62 rushing. Austin Fulp 2-22 rushing.

Richlands: River Michaels 18-85 rushing, 9-17-112 yds.-2 TD passing. Griffin McCauley 10-43 rushing, 1 TD. Cade Mullins 2-43 receiving. Zeke Vance 50-yd. punt return for TD.

Summers County: Nate Grimmett 133 yds. passing. Caleb Harrah 2-67 receiving. Dillon Smith 17-45 rushing.

Tazewell: Jesse Mountain 7 catches, 133 yards, 3 for TDs, two-point conversion catch, 4 solo tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 2 assts. Malik Davis 9-90 rushing with 1 TD, 123 passing yds., 3 TD.

Twin Valley: Austin Shortridge 121 rush yds., 3 TDs. Jake Kowalski 182 yds., 1 TD. Taten Sykes 7-12, 84 yd. passing. Cody Dales 4 sacks.

Wyoming East: Casey Saunders 74-yd. int. ret. for TD. Jacob Dulcie 5-45 receiving, 1 TD.

2014 Winners

Week 1: Corey Coppola, Bluefield

Week 2: Malik Davis, Tazewell

Week 3: Nick Blankenship, Tazewell