By JED LOCKETT
WHEELING — It was intense. It was hard-hitting. It had wild swings of emotion and momentum. In the end, it belonged to Beaver nation.
In the 50th-anniversary year of Merrill Gainer’s first state championship and 25th-anniversary year of John Chmara’s last, Marcus Patterson broke it wide open with a Super Six-record 98 yard interception return, then Bluefield repeatedly held off Wayne scoring opportunities as the Beavers won their 10th state football championship, 27-7 over the Pioneers Friday night at Wheeling Island Stadium.
“It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” said Bluefield head coach Fred Simon. “We played really good football teams like we’ve played in the last three weeks and to accomplish beating three undefeated teams like our players did, when you go undefeated winning’s one thing.
“But when you have to get on the road and your players are challenged, it’s just unbelievable the feeling that I have for these young men.”
Patterson became a factor immediately — and he did not have to touch the ball. With a fourth-and-4 on his own 7, Wayne punter Seth Merritt aimed for the sideline to keep the ball out of Patterson’s hands.
He found the sideline, but his kick traveled 19 yards, giving the Beavers a golden scoring chance with the ball on the Pioneers’ 26.
It took four runs before the Beavers scored their first touchdown. Jake Lilly had the longest run, an inside trap that went 15 yards for the score.
“The line gave me a good seam,” Lilly said. “I got by the linebackers and it was open field from there.”
Special teams would prove to be a huge factor and it set up Wayne’s first score. With a fourth-and-1 on his own 17, Levi Beckett saw his punt blocked by Justin Ruggles and the ball come to rest on the Bluefield 5.Corey Damron scored the tying touchdown two plays later.
On the next play from scrimmage, Beckett was intercepted by Seth Merritt. The senior returned the ball 18 yards to the Beavers’ 18. Wayne had an opportunity to take the lead.
But Bluefield’s defense responded to the challenge. The Pioneers were penalized five yards for a false start and three plays gained just six yards.
Another big special teams play changed the course of the game again as Allen Bryant’s 33-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Matthew Riggs. Wayne had nothing to show for the interception and Bluefield had the ball on their 31 after a big defensive stand.
The Beavers were forced to punt on their possession following the field goal. But returner Austin Mills lost the ball on his own 17 and Bluefield recovered on the Wayne 13. This time the Beavers took two plays to score with Lilly completing the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run.
"It was a good seam and I had one person to beat,” Lilly said. “It was on the 2 and I got it in.”
Late in the half, Wayne mounted a drive. Starting on their 44, they powered the ball to the Bluefield 20.
However, time was running out in the half and, lacking timeouts, the Pioneers were forced out of their running game. Second- and third-down passes by Adam Frazier fell incomplete. Wayne elected to go for a fourth-and-12 on the Bluefield 22, but another Frazier pass fell incomplete.
“They had some good athletes on defense and we were good enough to get down in the red zone there but we weren’t good enough to push it on through,” said Wayne head coach Tom Harmon. “I think that’s a testament to the kind of players they had and they did a nice job.”
The was the first incident in what would become a pattern. The Pioneers would snowball down the field only to melt under the hot glare of the end zone.
On Wayne’s first possession of the second half, they mounted a strong drive using quick inside handoffs, taking the ball from their own 38 to the Bluefield 13.
But the drive stalled. A holding penalty moved the ball back to the Beavers’ 22. They were forced into a fourth-and-11 where Frazier was forced to pass.
He looked for Merritt on the goal line, but defensive pressure forced him to throw up an air ball. Patterson picked it and raced down the left sideline for the game’s signature moment. It was the reason Patterson was named the Beavers’ Most Outstanding Player.
“I just dropped back and read my coverage, read the quarterback’s eyes and broke on the ball,” Patterson said. “I had good blocking up the field by all the other defenders and they made a good play.
“I didn’t think it would (swing momentum), but it did. That’s my job to take the momentum and that’s two games in a row that I did it for the team.”
Wayne’s next two drives had similar promise, but yielded similar results. The first ended on the Bluefield 15 when the Beavers recovered Brandon Spurlock’s fumble. The second ended with another desperate fourth-down throw that Patterson picked off on the Bluefield 3.
“We made adjustments at halftime, made different schemes for our linebackers, defensive linemen,” Lilly said. “We stepped it up and played hard.”
Meanwhile Bluefield’s offense had stalled. Bad field position had forced the Beavers into conservative play calling. They only ran nine plays for eight yards and did not get a single first down in the final 24 minutes.
Patterson also made what could have been a critical mistake when he fumbled the ball away on his own 40 with 5:11 left. Needing two touchdowns to win, the Pioneers stayed with their running attack, trying to churn out the yardage as quickly as they could.
They had their deepest penetration of the second half on the march, getting to the Beavers’ 4.
But this drive ended the same way as the others. Adam Frazier completed a pass in the flat to Austin Mills, who tried to fight his way into the end zone.
Bluefield’s Brad Fox stripped Mills of the ball and took off in the other direction, scoring on a Super Six-record 94-yard fumble return and officially triggering the Bluefield celebration with 1:31 left in the game.
“I knew it fourth down and we needed to stop them and they were about to score,” Fox said. “My team held him up, I stripped it, I started taking off down the field and my team — they had my back all year — they just led the way for me and we made it happen.”
Damron finished the night as the game’s leading ground gainer with 112 yards on 25 carries and was named Wayne’s Most Outstanding Player. Clyde Ferrell gave the Pioneers another power back up the gut, adding 103 yards on 18 carries.
Lilly was the Beavers’ other standout, making 15 total tackles and adding 50 yards rushing to be Bluefield’s leading ground gainer and helping the 12-2 Beavers to title No. 10.
“They’re all the same,” Simon said of the state championships he has won at Bluefield. “The first one probably is the one that you love to have ‘cause you’ve never had one before. But the rest of them, they’re all just equal because you’ve got so much dedication and hard work and to have a chance to win that’s what it takes.”
— Contact Jed Lockett
at jlockett@bdtonline.com
At Wheeling Island Stadium
Bluefield...................................7 7 6 7 — 27
Wayne......................................7 0 0 0 — 7
First Quarter
Blu — Jake Lilly 15 run (Justin Mariotti kick), 6:40
Way — Corey Damron 3 run (Allen Bryant kick), 1:34
Second Quarter
Blu — Lilly 8 run (Mariotti kick), :39
Third Quarter
Blu — Marcus Patterson 98 interception return (Kick failed), 7:47
Fourth Quarter
Blu — Brad Fox 94 fumble return (Mariotti kick), 1:31
———
Blu Way
First Downs 4 17
Rushes-Yards 31-94 66-272
Passing Yards 0 -2
Comp.-Att.-Int. 0-1-1 1-8-2
Punts-Avg. 6-29.3 3-27.7
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 4-3
Penalties-Yards 4-27 4-35
Fumble Ret.-Yards 2-96 0-0
Punt Ret.-Yards 0-0 4-13
Kickoff Ret.-Yards 2-54 5-34
Interception Ret.-Yards 2-98 1-19
Time of Possession 17:05 30:55
———
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Bluefield, Jake Lilly 9-50, Brad Fox 12-41, Levi Beckett 5-10, Marcus Patterson 5-9. Wayne, Corey Damron 25-112, Clyde Ferrell 18-103, Jake Barr 9-30, Austin Mills 6-25.
PASSING — Bluefield, Levi Beckett 0-1-1 0. Wayne, Adam Frazier 1-8-2 (-2).
RECEIVING — Bluefield, None. Wayne, Austin Mills 1-(-2).
