Next years Beaver team?

[CarMike 10]

I was hoping someone could shed some light what to expect from the Beavers next year? Living in NC its tough to get info.

 

Are they retooling for a run in a couple of years? Will they still be State Championship contenders? Or playoff contenders only to lose early?

 

Thanks for any info on this.

 

Sorry if this is a repeat thread. I looked before hand but didn't see anything similar....

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

Bluefield will lose a lot to graduation in June. Offensively they return two offensive linemen, Hutchinson and Albert. Defensively they return two defensive linemen, Steptoe and Carter, and a linebacker in Albert. There is a lot of talent in the underclassmen returning, but they obviously will lack the on-field experience.

 

They aren't state title contenders going into the season right now, but the playoffs are a solid and realistic goal to shoot for. It should also be noted that since becoming AA that each season Bluefield has made the playoffs that they’ve advanced at least to the state semi-finals, so if they can get there they could do some damage. The big thing is that many of the schools in AA play very weak schedules compared to Bluefield’s and it shows come playoff time. If Bluefield gets there they’ll be very battle-tested and ready for most anything.

[buzzsawBeaver 12]

Actually bluefield's 1st season in aa in '94 hey were defeated in the 2nd round by ritchie county.

They faced a very talented qb in alan caunan sp?, who was a back up qb at marshall. They passed the ball well against bluefield, as most passing teams have done.

It was 1 of the better playoff games I've seen. They couldn't stop Isabell, who was going for 10, 15 to 20 yards each play, he was just a sophomore then.

Low scoring in the 1st 2 quarters, they had a bluefield martinsburg like finish, whichever team had the ball last would likely earn the victory.

Ritchie county scored with just under 3 minutes or so to go up by a few and bluefield had more than enough time to score. But, the kickoff was a very hard line drive and bounced hard off the back of a bluefield up position player's helmet as he was turning and it bounced back to ritchie county. They were able to down the ball a few plays after that.

They had 1 of the most enthusiastic crowds I've ever seen.

That game was played at parkersburg's stadium, good atmosphere.

Bluefield would have had a very reasonable opportunity to earn the title had they advanced.

Bluefield's schedule had them ranked around top 5 maybe, but they were considered to be 1 of the strongest teams. After defeating bluefield, ritchie county was so certain they would earn the title they had thousands of state title shirts printed up. They had already defeated sissonville by 20 some points, the team waiting for the semis, and sissonville had defeated poca in a close game, the only other real contender in the other bracket it seemed.

As it is in high school their 2nd game against sissonville was a lot closer, and they went for 2 in the last minute of the game for the victory instead of going for an extra point to force ot. They didn't make it, sissonville advanced to the title game and poca defeated them for the title in a close game in that rematch.

In my opinion, bluefield was not a good match up either sissonville or poca.

Considering the bluefield mussleman title game in '95, the strength of bluefield's team and the close semi game against east bank in '96, and the fact that bluefield earned the title in '97. A few plays seems to have been the difference in 1 title in '97, and potentially 4 in a row from '94 to '97.

As for bluefield in '05, I also don't know about them being contenders, but then they still can commonly have more talent that most aa teams, and that said, considering their aa history after the '97 title game, they returned to the title game in '99, then '02 through '04.

So considering that it seems that there are few seasons in which bluefield really can't contend for the title in aa.

[tom 10]

the 96 game against east bank still hurts, Blfd had that game and let it slip away, simon went for an int instead of tackle and missed and accounted for an EB long td, then the qb went out with a dislocated shoulder and simon came in at qb and did an ok job then the reg qb comes back in after almost 2 qtrs and sparks the O again..Blfd had one of the best fake punts ive ever seen in that game, fooled EVERYONE, including the fans, but blfd i think had 1st and goal and they got simon for a late hit outta bounds and pushed em back to 1st and goal from the 20, came down to 4th and 15 and blfd ran a sweep and got 13 and eb got the ball back and i think ran out the colock..been a few yrs but that game is still a burning memory..it was tough to swallow that loss..22-14 and eb goes on and wins the title i beleive and i think the qb for Blfd was a benners?? help me out on my recollection fellas

[buzzsawBeaver 12]

Yeah that was a tough game. Bluefield and east bank were really strong that season, another season where aa teams were among the best teams in the state regardless of classification.

East banks only defeat that season was a 1 point defeat to john marshall, who finished undefeated and earned the aaa title.

I thing about the game bluefield east bank game though, east bank also had 1 score after bluefield fumbled the ball insider their 5 on 1 of the 1st plays after simon entered the game as qb after glen keene was injured. It was more like like a fumbled exchange between the center and qb, and east bank had the ball 1st and goal inside the 5.

Not to blame simon when he entered the game, as he was an inexperienced sophomore and things like so happen, unfortunately, bluefield's other qb, brandon sarver, had been injured and sidelined for the remainder of the seasons around the 6th or 7th week, so they had no other experienced back up.

I recall keene and sarver alternated at qb at times, each were exceptional qbs with different styles.

East bank defeated poca in the title game.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

I always forget about 1994 being the first year in AA for Bluefield. As for 1996, there isn't a doubt in my mind had Glenn Keene not gone down with a separated shoulder early in the game Bluefield would have beaten East Bank. Bluefield marched down the field on the first possession and scored with ease. EB couldn’t contain the Keene/Isabelle combo in the backfield. Bluefield then forced EB three and out on it’s first possession to get the ball back.

 

The first play of the series saw Keene rush for 20+ yards, but suffer the shoulder injury on the tackle. Freddie Simon, Jr. was the third string QB and came in to play the position. After that EB could focus solely on Isabelle b/c Simon wasn’t a threat to pass the ball or run it. As Buzzsaw pointed out, EB picked up an easy TD following a QB/center fumbled exchanged.

 

Keene stood on the sideline the entire second half begging to get back in the game. Finally, on the final drive Simon put him back in to try and lead the comeback, and he almost did. Bluefield marched down inside the EB 10-yardline and on a 4th and goal Keene's pass bounced off the hands of a Bluefield player and into the hands of an EB kid for the INT. EB would run the clock out with Bluefield out of timeouts.

 

Keene performance that night in the final drive was one of the gutsiest I’ve ever seen. You could see he was in serious pain, but he sucked it up and nearly led a great comeback.