By Tom Bone
BLUEFIELD — Bluefield’s two-headed monster of running backs, and the line that pried open holes for them, proved too much for the Mavericks on Friday night.
With the upper hand in the Class AA football playoffs at stake, the Bluefield Beavers used a second-half comeback to score 20 unanswered points and defeat the James Monroe Mavericks 27-10 at Mitchell Stadium.
“That’s one good thing about football,” said Bluefield head coach Fred Simon. “You play two halves.”
The Beavers (7-2), ranked ninth in Class AA, were energized by an efficient performance from quarterback Levi Beckett and hard running from Jake Lilly and Brad Fox, who scored two touchdowns each and ran for 141 and 106 yards respectively.
James Monroe (7-2) came into the game ranked seventh, averaging almost 38 points, but their scores were limited to a touchdown and a field goal in the latter half of the second quarter. It was enough for a 10-7 halftime lead.
The first big break in the game for Bluefield was Matt Riggs’ recovery of a Braxton Thompson fumble early in the second quarter.
Simon sent Levi Beckett, who has been recovering from a broken collarbone, onto the field for Bluefield’s third possession, which lasted only three plays. Lilly took an option pitch to the right and cut back for a 34-yard scamper and the game’s first points.
The Mavericks answered with a 72-yard drive in eight plays. Jackson Mohler blasted off left guard for a 23-yard gain and John Ballengee passed 27 yards to Tanner Beasley to set up Mohler’s 4-yard scoring run.
Bluefield went three-and-out and James Monroe mounted a 72-yard drive that reached the Bluefield 1-yard line.
The Mavs’ only penalty of the half, a false start, helped forced the visitors to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Juan Carlos Calix-Herrera with 37 seconds left in the half, producing a 10-7 lead.
The Beavers sent a message by taking the ball to start the second half and marching 70 yards — 69 of them on runs by Fox. His 11-yard TD gave Bluefield the lead for good, though the extra-point try was wide right and the score remained 13-10.
Simon said about James Monroe, “They’ve got a class program, and good people down that way. I like winning, but I wish them the best.”
— E-mail: tbone@bdtonline.com
