By Fred Persinger II
Beckley (3-5) at #11 (AAA) Oak Hill (6-2)
The Beckley Flying Eagles saw their playoff chances end last week on the road against the Princeton Tigers. The Flying Eagles fell behind 28-7 at the end of three quarters, but were able to make a comeback in the fourth quarter behind the running of quarterback Brent Osborne and running back Chase Hancock.
Beckley cut the lead to 28-21 with six minutes left in the game. But, the Beckley defense could not hold the Princeton Tigers on a couple of third and fourth down conversions and did not get the ball back. Princeton scored on two long drives in the first half that were over 15 plays and 90 yards each.
Princeton was able to gain 387 yards of total offense led by Jordan Jones, who rushed for six times for 133 yards including an 88 yard touchdown run. For Beckley, quarterback Brent Osborne led the way with 131 yards rushing on 10 carries and two scores.
For the Oak Hill Red Devils, they lost 51-15 to Bluefield last week. It was the second loss in three games for Oak Hill. The Red Devils are now 6-2 after a 5-0 start. In the game, Oak Hill could not get anything going against the stingy Bluefield defense.
Bluefield jumped out to a 24-0 lead in the first half, and led 31-7 at the break. Bluefield was led by D.J. Stewart on the ground rushing for 95 yards on 16 carries. R.J. Bourne got it done through the air going 10 for 15 for 230 yards while D.J. Edwards was the leading receiver with five catches for 126 yards.
For Oak Hill, Jarell Green was the leading rusher in the game for the second week in a row with 56 yards on 12 carries. Jalen Jones was once again hampered by a injury and only rushed for 20 yards on 10 carries.
This will be the first meeting since 2003 for these longtime rivals. The series dates back to 1921 and was one of the longest running rivalries in the state as they played every year from 1921 to 1980. Beckley has a 56-14-3 advantage all time over Oak Hill. Beckley has won the last 17 games between the two teams as the last win for Oak Hill was a 12-0 win in 1976.
Game time Friday night from John P. Duda Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m. You can hear the game on the Big Dawg 99.5 WJLS and WJLS.com beginning at 6:00pm with the pregame coverage.
Some other Games this week:
James Monroe (3-5) at #1 (AA) Bluefield (7-1)
#4 (AA) Summers County (8-1) at Richwood (2-6) – game can be heard on 95.7fm 3WS or at 3ws957fm.com
#6 (AA) Wyoming East (7-1) at Independence (2-6)
Shady Spring (1-7) at Liberty(Raleigh) (3-5) – game can be heard on AM 560 WJLS and WJLS.com
Westside (1-7) at Mount View (1-7)
#3 (A) Valley Fayette (8-0) at Midland Trail (4-4)
Fayetteville (3-5) at #7(A) Greenbrier West (8-1)
Sherman (2-7) at #11(A) Meadow Bridge (7-2)
Montcalm (2-7) at Hannan (1-7)
Princeton (5-4) – Idle This Week
Greenbrier East (5-4) – Idle This Week
#10 (AA) Nicholas County – Idle This Week
Pikeview (3-6) – Idle This Week