By JED LOCKETT
WHEELING — Comparatively, it is very small and technically, it is not a country at all. But there is such a thing as Beaver nation, and as dusk quickly descended into cold darkness Friday night, they filed into Wheeling Island Stadium to watch their beloved Bluefield Beavers take on Wayne in the West Virginia Class AA State Championship game.
Those fans saw the Beavers capture their 10th state championship with a 27-7 victory over Wayne. But it only added to the celebration of the institution known as Bluefield High School football and what it means to the families of those who love it most.
Rusty Ruble, 53, was among the first in line before the gates opened. He left Bluefield at 7 a.m. on Friday, arriving in Wheeling at noon and at the stadium at 5 p.m., a half-hour before the gates opened and two hours before kickoff.
“I’m a little nervous, anxious to get a win,” Ruble said moments before he finally set foot in the complex. “You know you’re playing a good team. You don’t know how it’s going to come out.”
Ruble is a graduate from Graham, but his children attended Bluefield, which led him to join Beaver nation in 1995.
“It’s exciting to watch,” Ruble said. “I love the high school football and I’ve got a group of six of us that attends every game no matter where they’re at.”
Behind Ruble in the line was another man who has become a part of Beaver nation by association. James Hicks, 33, of Bluewell graduated from Montcalm, but he was there to see his first cousin, Jake Lilly.
“There’s no other better feeling (than to have a family member on the team),” Hicks said. “Bluefield Beavers all the way.”
Hicks has not missed a game since Lilly’s freshman season. Naturally, he was as nervous as any of the other members of Beaver nation.
“They’ve got to play their butts off,” Hicks said. “Wayne’s a good ball team.”
Hicks shared the experience with those closest to him as well. Tagging along were his wife Jackie and children Samantha, 10, and Garrett, 4.
"Who are you pulling for tonight?" he asked Samantha and Garrett. They responded emphatically, "Beavers!"
Some members of Beaver nation present in the shadow of the Ohio River have long-held ties with Bluefield High School. Donna Casey graduated from Bluefield in 1979. That alone would have entitled her to feel, “Nervous, excited, ready for another win.”
But she had a better reason for her nerves.
“My son’s out there playing,” Casey said. Specifically, she was there to see No. 66, Kody Casey. The junior is continuing a family tradition that included another person that was special in Donna’s life.
“It means a whole lot because my brother played for Bluefield High School too,” she said. “It’s a good tradition. It’s wonderful. It’s one that will be carried on.”
Donna’s brother passed away at the young age of 22. With Kody, she has a direct link to Beaver nation.
Kody was a part of Bluefield’s last state championship team in 2007. Donna still has the memories from that game — and added more memories Friday night.
“The look on his face,” she said when asked what she would remember most from this game, “and knowing that he was part of the tradition that was carried on in the family.”
While most members of Beaver nation have been proud members for a large portion of their lives, some were only too glad to join for one memorable night. Rick Dollie, 40, of Moorefield has been attending the Wheeling football festival known as the Super Six since its first incarnation in 1994.
“I love football,” Dollie said. “I absolutely love it.
“I see some of the new prospects that’s going to play in the state conference as well as maybe even some Division I schools. I like watching the kids grow.”
Dollie sat with Beaver nation on Friday night and like most on the Bluefield side, he brought his family with him. His wife Susie, sons Byron, 12, and Brock, 10 and nephew Adam Simmons braved the cold to watch the event with him.
But braving the cold is a part of the experience for them. Ask them about the year they attended when the temperature was 4 degrees Farenheit and they had to scrape ice off the metal bleachers. One team they saw that year, the Bluefield Beavers.
“It’s been a winter vacation for us,” Dollie said. “We really do love football back home and with the success that prior to even Moorefield becoming the powerhouse that they were back in the late ‘90s and early 2000 era. We have been coming out here prior to that and that just made it all the sweeter.
“You get to bring your family out here. You meet a lot of old friends. You meet nice news reporters, it is a wonderful thing.”
That is the true beauty within high school football and the institution known as Beaver nation.
State championships are bragged about for decades, but the ability to share it with loved ones past and present is what truly makes Bluefield High School football so special.
“We’ve been taking our grandchildren to the home games,” Ruble said. “We live from fall to fall for football season, turn in vacation days for every Friday night for every game. We don’t miss a game.”
“There’s nothing like high school football,” Hicks said. “The kids play with a lot of heart and when it gets to the upper levels it’s all about the money. There’s nothing better than high school football.”
Ruble summed up Beaver nation in two words that could be used to describe what it means to the so many families it so positively effects.
“Winning tradition.”
— Contact Jed Lockett
at jlockett@bdtonline.com
