Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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September 9, 2010

Unbeaten Spartans await 2-0 Beavers

By JONATHAN GREENE Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD — According to Bluefield head coach Fred Simon, it’s time to go. It will be a matchup of unbeatens as the Beavers take on the Greenbrier East Spartans.

After two games in Mitchell Stadium, Bluefield will officially leave the friendly confines they call home.

“Its something we have to do,” Simon said. “Now we’ll see how wh ere going to perform out of our environment.”

Last week in their environment, the Beavers shutout rival Princeton 17-0.

“We had some kids step it up and play well,” Simon said. “I though we tackled well defensively because we had to. They had some good skill players and if we didn’t, they could hurt us.”

Despite the shutout victory, Simon knows certain areas need to be improved.

“We had way too many penalties,” he said. “We’ve got to cut that out. Later on this year, if we have that type of game it could haunt us.”

Simon realizes every game will not be perfect.

“We just have to execute what’s been called better,” he said. “I think we will this week. As long as we find a way to win, I’m fine with that too. Whatever it takes.”

The Beavers offense will face a Spartan defense coming off a shutout in which they held Woodrow Wilson to under 150 total yards.

“We’ll always look at different angles,” Simon said of how to attack the Spartans. “We’ve got an inside game, an outside game and a passing game. A lot of times what you think doesn’t work, so you have to be able to counter a little bit.”

The Beavers will have plenty to counter with against Greenbrier East.

Brad Fox, a 5-foot-9, 175-pound junior, leads the Beavers on the ground with 208 yards and two touchdowns. Fox is not the only one to watch out for.

Byron Steptoe and Trey Williams are threats to score out of the backfield along with dual-threat quarterback Levi Beckett.

The 6-foot, 19- pound senior has amassed 242 yards through the air and 91 on the ground.

Greenbrier East will not be with out weapons of their own.

Quarterback Clay Ayers is a dual-threat with both his arms and legs.

“(Ayers) is a real good quarterback,” Simon said. “We’re going to have to contain him. He throws well, runs well out of the pocket. He’s going to be a threat.”

Joining Ayers in the backfield will be juniors Josh Grubbs, Tyler Freeman and Garrett Grove, along and sophomore Tré Moore.

Against Greenbrier East, Bluefield will have to stop the run and the pass. So far this year, the Beavers’ defense has been up to the task.

“They’ve been very good at reading their keys,” Simon said. “They’ve carried out their assignments. We’ve tackled well too, hopefully we can continue to do that.”

Greenbrier East hosts the Beavers tonight at 7:30 p.m.

— Contact Jonathan Greene

at jgreene@bdtonline.com

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