Drought broken, Beavers travel to face Class AA No. 3 Independence

Sep. 30—BLUEFIELD — Last week, Bluefield (1-4) picked up its first victory of the 2022 football season — a 26-10 road win over VHSL Class 2 opponent Richlands at Ernie Hicks Stadium. It was a relief.

"I'm happy for our program. Our players and coaches have been working hard all year. We just didn't make plays when we needed to a lot of time," said Bluefield head coach Fred Simon.

"We still missed a few plays last week, but we found a way to beat a good football team."

As a result of the victory, the Beavers moved up to 28th in the WVSSAC Class AA football rankings. Tonight the Beavers travel to Coal City to face unbeaten Independence (5-0), the state's third-ranked Class AA team behind No. 1 North Marion and No. 2 Scott.

As of press time on Thursday night, the game was still on. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll. For that matter, it's a long way to being on the Class AA playoff bubble. That won't deter the Beavers from continuing to seek that threshhold.

"Our goal is just to take one game at a time and try to do our best to get a win. That's the math part for us right now ... one game at a time and try to climb back in there," said Simon, whose team ended last year's campaign in a 34-20 road loss to the Patriots in the Class AA state semifinals.

"It would be great just to get [into the playoffs]. We know it's do-able. If you win out — you have a shot," he said.

Independence comes into tonight's game with blowout wins against Liberty-Raleigh (60-0), Oak Hill (40-0), Poca (70-8), Shady Spring (68-0) and Westside (60-0) — and all this following the graduation of Kennedy Award Winner Atticus Goodson (RB-LB) and veteran quarterback Logan Phalin. The duo represented almost 5,000 yards of combined offense in 2021.

This year's Patriots are paced by running back Judah Price and quarterback Trey Bowers.

Price, who has gained statewide notoriety for his practice of paying off Indy's massive offensive front with doughnuts every time he rushes for more than 200 yards, has thus far compiled 1,015 yards and 18 touchdowns over the last five games. He's also punched in 22 2-point conversions.

Bowers, a converted wide receiver, has thus far completed 37-of-49 passing attempts for 813 yards and six touchdowns.

The Independence OL got their doughnut rations this week — Price rushed for 257 yards and seven touchdowns against Shady — but this mostly-veteran assemblage is no joke. Tackle Logan Isom (6-5, 286) is getting some serious college looks and the balance of his crew are battle-hardened, seam-busting hosses.

"They're a good football team. Well-coached and physical. Their whole line is back. Most of their defense is back. Since they lost [Atticus Goodson and Phalin], you know that this has to be a very good nucleus of a football team that's returned," Simon said.

Bluefield's offense suffered an unquestionable setback when it lost junior running back Amir Hairston to a season-ending injury midway through the Woodrow Wilson game. Gerrard Wade has since stepped up admirably. He rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown versus the Blue Tornado. So far, he has rushed for 296 yards and three touchdowns.

Quarterback Caleb Fuller has been with the Beavers for four seasons but this is his first starting behind center. Simon has been impressed with his progress, not only calling signals but also starting in the Beavers' defensive secondary.

"I think Fuller did a heck of a job for us last week on both sides of the ball," said Simon. "I think he's a super kid. He's worked awful hard and he's gotten better each week.

Fuller has so far completed 70 of 124 attempts for 922 yards and seven touchdowns, yielding three interceptions. He has rushed for 124 yards and a TD.

RJ Hairston leads the Beavers receivers with 20 catches for 373 yards and five touchdowns. Brayden Fong has the team's second best per-catch average (19-259) while Sencere Fields (17-202, 3 TDs) has picked up his own big-play credentials this season.

With hurricane-related wet weather a possibility, it's difficult to predict what the effects might be in terms of fan turnout from the Coal City faithful. Simon believes that with John Lilly coaching the Patriots, the setting and backdrop won't be very consequential.

"The way Coach Lilly coaches, they're going to play hard whether a few thousand people are there or only a few hundred. That's not really going to matter," Simon said.