WVSSAC Super Six Football Championships

Bluefield contains Roberts, rolls past Scott into finals
Saturday, November 24, 2007
By TOMMY R. ATKINSON - The Charleston Gazette

Scott’s special season came to a crashing halt Friday night.

Top-seeded Bluefield put the clamps on Skyhawks back Jordan Roberts and made life downright miserable for No. 5 Scott in a dominating 41-6 victory in the Class AA semifinals. A crowd of about 6,500 attended at Mitchell Stadium in Bluefield.

The Beavers (12-0) advance to next Friday’s Super Six title game at Wheeling Island Stadium, their fifth finals appearance in six years and their eighth since 1995. Bluefield has captured eight state titles — six as a Class AAA school and a pair in AA under current coach Fred Simon (1997 and 2004). Scott (9-4) was making its first semifinals appearance in school history.

Roberts gained 162 yards on 39 carries with a touchdown, but 105 yards and the score came after Bluefield had built a 28-0 lead and had 10 plays that went for negative yardage. Roberts, who takes the snap from the shotgun then usually picks his way through the line, completed just 1-of-9 passes for 17 yards with an interception.

The 5-foot-10, 210-pound Roberts galloped for 268 yards and a pair of TDs as the Skyhawks fell 35-25 to the Beavers in both teams’ season finale at Laidley Field three weeks ago.

“I’ve very proud of our players,’’ said Simon. “[Our] players did everything that was asked of them. They focused on their assignments and they decided they wanted to play hard.

“[We] just tried to read our keys a little better and do a better job of tackling. I was proud of how they were able to read and do what was asked of them.’’

Roberts, a Kennedy Award candidate, set single-season records this year for rushing yards in the regular season (2,895) and all games (unofficially 3,820) and scored 48 TDs and passed for seven more.

Scott senior tailback Randy Bishop, the second-leading rusher behind Roberts with 642 yards, left early in the second quarter Friday and did not return.

“[Bluefield] made some adjustments,’’ said Scott coach Shane Griffith. “They pulled a safety into the box so we had an extra guy we had to account for. Just when I felt like we were getting comfortable with that, [Bishop] went down. That really limited us. I feel like that kind of altered the way the night went. They had a few little wrinkles we were figuring out.

“It was a great opportunity for us. Hopefully next time we’ll be able to capitalize. All night long [our players] poured it out there. That’s all you can ask of them. There’s no reason to be upset with the season we just had. In time we’ll be able to look back on this and smile.’’

Scott was its own worst enemy in the first half, turning the ball over inside Bluefield territory on two occasions then getting a punt blocked at its own 28-yard line in falling behind 21-0 at halftime.

Beavers senior Eric McClanahan blocked and recovered Scott’s punt on the Skyhawks’ second possession. Two plays later, Bluefield senior wideout Ansel Ponder turned a short pass into a 20-yard touchdown from junior quarterback Will Cole for a 7-0 lead with 7:03 left in the opening quarter.

Scott drove to Bluefield’s 35 on its ensuing possession, but McClanahan’s hit Bishop forced a fumble after a 5-yard gain and Bluefield sophomore Jake Lilly recovered.

The Skyhawks seemed to be getting into gear with first-and-goal at the Beavers’ 6 on their next possession. A bad snap that bounded on the ground by Roberts resulted in an 11-yard loss to the 17. Then Bluefield senior Deak Kersey sacked Roberts on the next play for a 4-yard loss to the 21 on second-and-goal. A pair of incomplete passes from Roberts turned it over on downs.

Five plays after Bluefield took over at its 21, Cole tossed a screen pass to Lilly, who turned it into a 70-yard TD and a 14-0 lead with 8:13 left in the second quarter.

Scott had Bluefield stopped on fourth-and-24 on what should have been its final first-half possession, but a 15-yard roughing-the-kicker penalty on the Skyhawks gave the Beavers a new set of downs at Scott’s 40. Three plays later, Ponders took another short pass from Cole and turned it into a 50-yard score and a 21-0 edge at intermission.

The Beavers essentially put the game away on the opening possession of the second half. On the second play from scrimmage, sophomore tailback Marcus Patterson broke off a 57-yard TD for a 28-0 advantage with 11 minutes to go in the third period.

After a 10-play drive on the ensuing possession, Scott turned it over on downs again at the Beavers’ 15 after two straight runs for minus-yardage by Robertson.

Bluefield scored on the ensuing possession as senior fullback Aaron Bowes jaunted down the left sideline 30 yards for a 34-0 lead with 3:50 left in the third. Cole hit junior tight end Cody Wassum down the middle of the field for a 47-yard strike on third-and-5.

Patterson finished off the scoring for the Beavers with a 58-yard interception return of a Roberts pass for a 41-0 edge with 2:05 remaining in the third period.

Cole finished 6-of-10 for 190 yards with three TDs and no interceptions. Ponder turned in three catches for 72 yards and two scores