BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — Three different Beavers found the end zone and Bluefield’s defense played a steady game for four quarters as No. 4 BHS posted a significant victory over No. 2 Independence, 22-13 at Mitchell Stadium. After dropping their opening two games to Graham, Virginia and Princeton, Bluefield has won three in a row, concluding a challenging first half to their regular season schedule.
The Beavers allowed 72 points in their 0-2 start. Since then, BHS has yielded just 29.
“We made a couple changes after game two. And it has worked out pretty good,” said Bluefield head coach Fred Simon. “You saw [Jeremiah Wade] came off the edge and did a nice job of getting a few sacks. So I think defensively, we are starting to come around. After last year in that championship game and giving up so many points, I am happy to see what is going on.”
The Beavers never trailed in the contest. A 9-play, 65-yard drive concluded in the final minute of the first quarter when Jeremiah Jones scored on a 5-yard tote. BHS led 8-0 through one quarter.
The teams traded touchdowns on their next two possessions. Independence quarterback Brock Green connected with Carson Treadway on an 18-yard touchdown pass to pull the Patriots within a point, 8-7. Bluefield marched right back down the field to score when Max Simpson found Jazhaun Brown on a 15-yard scoring strike. The Beavers led 16-7 at halftime.
An 11-play, 65-yard drive to open the second half was capped by a Simpson-to-Jamarius Smith 10-yard touchdown pass, extending the BHS lead to 22-7.
“You make them go two scores and it changes the game,” Simon said.
Independence (2-2) responded late in the third when Green and Treadway combined on a 7-yard score, pulling the Patriots within nine points at 22-13.
The Bluefield defense stood tall in the fourth quarter, making a key red zone stop with just over three minutes to play.
Several running backs shared the carries for Bluefield after Willis Wilson was injured in the first quarter.
“[Jazhaun] Brown coming in at running back when Wilson got hurt, he did a fantastic job as a sophomore, coming in and making some nice runs. Jeremiah [Jones] is fine and [Jamarius] Smith came in and did a nice job. When they were double-covering Pax [Calhoun], we found other weapons to go to.
“It is huge for us because you have lost to two rivals in close games. I wanted to see if we changed much since game two. I think we have. We found a way to win even though we made a couple mistakes there at the end that we shouldn’t have that could have maybe kept the ball away from them, period. But we made the plays when we had to. I am very pleased with the outcome.”