By JED LOCKETT
BLUEFIELD — In recent seasons, the Bluefield Beavers have become known for displaying a very high level of talent on the field that has been known to result in an occasional lopsided score.
Last Friday was no exception. The Beavers dominated their first-round playoff game against Liberty-Raleigh from the outset and rolled to an easy 62-24 win. The starters were taken out with nine minutes left in the third quarter, but Bluefield head coach Fred Simon knows there was still room for improvement.
“The outcome was good,” Simon said. “There’s no way that they’ll ever perform and get everything right. But I was happy to take the first step and that’s all I can say about the game.
“It’s always nice when everything you do is getting big yardage,” Simon said. “It was nice, but we know that it won’t last forever. Once the game’s over, we don’t spend a lot of time on what happened there ’cause we know you’ve gotta move on.”
Marcus Patterson had a breakout performance in the victory, piling up 216 yards of total offense, 156 yards on punt returns, intercepting two passes and scoring three touchdowns. Simon hopes that this game was a sign of things to come for the senior.
“You can’t tell in the future what’s going to happen, but our hope is as long as he’s trying hard we hope he can have some games like that,” Simon said. “Nothing’s guaranteed. If he plays up to his potential, I think he can have some things happen for him. But the bottom line is we want to play well and we don’t really care who gets credit as long as we can maybe pull a win off.”
Whether Patterson has a similar statistical night in the second round of the playoffs has yet to be seen. But opponents will have to be prepared for him and that gives the Beavers a big edge — even if Patterson is used simply as a decoy.
“People have to watch him because if they don’t he’s going to be very successful,” Simon said. “He gets the chance to touch the ball on special teams. Defensively, he might pick off a pass. Offensively, we’ve definitely got him moving around different places. So he’s got his chances. And as last Friday, if they blink an eye and they’re not really focusing on him, things could happen well for him.”
They could also happen well for the rest of the Beavers. Jake Lilly comes into the game off a 120-yard performance against Liberty-Raleigh with 1,094 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns. Despite a midseason injury, quarterback Levi Beckett has five rushing touchdowns and seven passing touchdowns on the season. And sophomore Brad Fox has come on late to average 8.3 yards per carry and score five touchdowns.
Patterson and the rest of the Beavers will make a two-hour drive north to take on a Sherman team that followed a perfect 10-0 regular season with a 48-41 shootout win in the first week of the playoffs against Chapmanville.
Sherman’s spread attack is led by quarterback Colby Treadway, who has 972 yards and 21 touchdowns rushing and a 53 percent completion rate, 1,884 yards and 24 touchdowns passing, and receiver Jacob Rollo, who has 717 yards and 12 touchdowns on 52 catches in 2009.
“They throw quite a bit,” Simon said. “They’ve got some nice receivers and the quarterback, Rollo is a good target for him. The kid’s 6-4, 190 pounds, good track runner too so he’s got real good speed.
“Treadway is the quarterback. He’s 6-3, 225 and he does a real nice job for them. Offensively they throw quite a bit and they put a lot of points on the board. They’ve beat people bad. They’ve come from behind and won. So they know how to win and we look for a very tough contest on their home field.”
The tide runs exclusively out of the spread, an offense the Beavers have plenty of experience defending against. But Simon noted that Sherman puts their own twist on it that Bluefield will have to adjust to.
“We’ve seen some spread stuff, so we have an idea,” Simon said. “But they’ve got their own little special receivers that they like and their own certain routes that are their favorite routes that are different from other teams.”
Defensively, the Tide operates out of a base five-man line. The Beavers have faced a similar defense when they went up against James Monroe.
“At least we’ve seen something close to it, not exactly, but something like that and they’ll probably have maybe a wrinkle or two on their defense for us too, which we’ve been seeing all year long,” Simon said. “Teams will try something a little different against us sometimes and hopefully our players will be able to adjust to it.”
Bluefield will have to adjust to Sherman’s big group up front on both sides of the ball.
“They have definitely good size, adequate speed with their running back and receiver,” Simon said. “Their linemen are good size. The center’s 245 and the tackles are basically 230 and 275 and they’ve got a guard that’s 270 and another one 200. So they’ve got good size.”
Simon does not believe that the two-hour trip will be a factor in the game. In fact, the Bluefield head coach is looking forward to an expedition to the unknown.
“We all have to do things that aren’t easy in this world,” Simon said. “I think going there will be fun because it’s somewhere we’ve never been before and I like new experiences sometimes, somewhere you’ve never been. I like going there just to go. So I’m looking forward to the trip.”
Simon is not taking anything for granted. He knows that if his squad takes any playoff team lightly, they may be watching the rest of the games from the sidelines.
“Each opponent is a different opponent. The score is 0-0,” Simon said. “You go from there and you’ve got to line up and play. I know it’s a different game and your players have to be ready to play no matter who it is each week and if they’re not ready to play in the playoffs, you can come with your feelings hurt real fast and we just hope we’re ready to play.”
— Contact Jed Lockett
at jlockett@bdtonline.com
The roads to Sherman
Sherman High School is located in Seth, which is approximately 15 miles south of Charleston.
1. Get on Interstate 77 going north to Charleston. Stay on I-77 for 84 miles.
2. Take exit 89 at Marmet and turn left on to West Virginia Route 94.
3. Route 94 runs 10 miles, then it becomes West Virginia Route 3. Stay on this road for an additional five miles. The field is located behind the school, which is on the right.
•In addition to spaces on school property, there is parking available behind the school as well as at area churches near the school. Parking is also available at Sherman Elementary School with shuttle buses available to take people to and from the game. Gates open at 5 p.m.
