A preseason article on Bluefield...

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

http://www.bdtonline.com/articles/2004/08/01/sports/03.beavers.txt

 

Beavers, fans won't be traveling much this year

Posted: Saturday, Jul 31, 2004 - 10:27:18 pm EDT

By DUSTY HARMAN

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

 

BLUEFIELD - The Bluefield Beavers won't have to worry much about their travel budget this season.

 

The Beavers, the 2003 Class AA state runners-up the past two seasons, have six straight contests slated at Mitchell Stadium to open their 2004 campaign. Bluefield wraps up with four road contests over the final five weeks of the season, but even those trips won't require a long commute - the first three are at Shady Spring, Mount View and James Monroe.

 

"Certainly we're happy with that because you just don't have to travel much," Bluefield coach Fred Simon said. "You have to focus whether you're home or away, but it's good for our fans. They don't have to travel, and it's some very competitive teams that are coming."

 

It won't be until the team's regular season finale at Lee, Va., that their travels take them outside of Mercer, Raleigh or McDowell County. That trip, though, is more than three hours and 130 miles away.

 

"It's a very competitive schedule," Simon said. "If we can survive those first six regular season games, and have enough wins to get enough into the playoffs, I think we're going to be just fine."

 

The Beavers open the season Aug. 27 with the traditional Battle of the Bluefields, a rivalry game with Graham so intense its been featured in national publications as one of the top 10 high school rivalries in the country.

 

The second week brings county rival Princeton to Mitchell on Sept. 3, followed by Woodrow Wilson (Sept. 10), Herbert Hoover (Sept. 17), Oak Hill (Sept. 24), and Martinsburg (Oct. 1).

 

"Those first six games are going to be very tough, but that's not to say the road games won't be," Simon said. "But we're just going to focus on home right now. With Graham and Princeton right off the bat - they're both highly successful programs - it makes you practice harder."

 

The road portion of the schedule begins Oct. 8, when Beaver travels to Shady Spring. The following week, Mount View plays host to BHS on Oct. 15 before the squad takes its bye week on Oct. 22.

 

The Beavers' penultimate contest takes place against James Monroe at Lindside, with the season finale shaping up Nov. 5 against Lee at Jonesville, Va.

 

The Beavers lost several of their team leaders to graduation during the offseason, but Simon said he hopes the program has produced others that are willing to take up the slack.

 

"We've got some kids coming back, but we did lose some experience; we lost some key individuals," Simon said. "But if we can replace them, it will help quite a bit, and we've still got Rusty (Coeburn) coming back at QB - and he's a fine defensive player. We've also got Dave Perdue, Quintin Steptoe, Daniel Wells, and T.J. Morris - those are the five (we expect to be leaders.)"

 

The Beavers hope to open practice Monday with approximately 50 players in camp.

 

"We'll get after it and hopefully have a good week," Simon said.

 

From there, all the squad can do is practice and strive to improve. That process, Simon said, continues beyond August and well into the season.

 

'You're never really (satisfied)," Simon said. "We're just going to get out there and work. That three weeks (of practice in July) helped us with equipment and a few other things we wanted to look at, but we'll really know more after those first six games."