Lilly hopes to finish as a state champion
Monday, November 30, 2009
By BRIAN WOODSON- The Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Jake Lilly caught the ball and fell to the ground. He wasn’t about to let this pigskin get away.
“I was nervous before, but when I saw that thing coming into my hands I was like, ‘Thank goodness I caught it’,” Lilly said.
It was Lilly who caught the onside kick attempt late in last Friday’s 13-10 win over Magnolia, securing a 15th trip to the state championship game for the Beavers, and sixth in the last eight seasons.
Bluefield (11-2) will travel to Wheeling Island Stadium on Friday to face Wayne (13-0) — the Beavers’ third straight undefeated opponent — for the Class AA state championship. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.
“We just have to play as a team, have heart, go out and give it your best,” said Lilly, Bluefield’s senior running back and linebacker.
Magnolia trailed 13-3 with just over two minutes to play when the Blue Eagles forced Lilly’s second fumble of the season.
“I got stood up and there were so many arms ripping it and I should have went down, but that’s just what happened,” Lilly said.
Needless to say, Lilly wasn’t happy.
“I tried to get it back on defense,” Lilly said. “I made that interception, and then that penalty came.”
Lilly had picked off a Justin Fox pass in the end zone, but a penalty had nullified what was a big gain by him and possibly the last chance for the Eagles. Instead, Fox got another opportunity and completed a touchdown pass, narrowing the margin to 13-10.
Magnolia then set up for the onside kick. The ultra-tough 5-foot-11, 198-pound Lilly wound up with the ball, and wasn’t about to let this one get away.
“At first I didn’t think it was going to come to me because Magnolia’s special teams went plum to the sideline so I thought they were going to kick it to the sideline,” Lilly said. “I guess it took a lucky bounce and came into my hands.”
For Bluefield, that has been a good thing for four years.
Lilly, a four-year starter, a three-year all-state performer — with a fourth undoubtedly waiting in the next month — will be playing his final game for the Beavers in Wheeling. He knows how he’d like it to end.
“There are a lot of emotions, I’ve enjoyed my four years up here, God has been good to me,” Lilly said. “I’d like to go out on top, that’s for sure.”
Sixth-seeded Bluefield, which has already traveled to No. 3 Sherman and No. 2 Magnolia to defeat higher-seeded and undefeated teams, face another unbeaten foe in No. 1 Wayne.
“Sherman was number three, Magnolia was two, Wayne is one,” Lilly said. “If you win it all, you’ve got to go through 3, 2 and 1, all three are undefeated.
“There ain’t much more you can ask for, that would be a great season. It might not be perfect, but it’s a good challenge.”
Lilly was part of perfection in 2007, as the Beavers finished 14-0 and won the school’s ninth state title. Bluefield will be looking for its 10th in the 50th anniversary of its first championship in 1959.
“We’ve lost two of course, but there ain’t much different, just the team,” Lilly said. “In ‘07. we were more of a team the whole time and this year we building up to a team and getting trust and everything in each other.”
Bluefield saw its season come to an end in the state quarterfinals last season with a 41-35 loss at Wayne. Lilly and the Beavers know what lies ahead from the Pioneers, who have won 12 of their 13 games by at least 10 points.
“They’ve got a good team, and they’re well-coached,” said Lilly, who listened to Wayne’s thrilling 27-21 win over Frankfort last Saturday, after trailing 21-0 at the break. “That has to be the biggest school comeback, I mean Frankfort never even had the ball in the third quarter, what more can you ask for.
“That is a good job by the special teams. Getting back to back-to-back onside kicks is pretty crazy.”
Lilly is confident in Bluefield’s chances against the Pioneers, but the Beavers will need more than the 164 yards on offense they had against Magnolia, and definitely must cut down on the 11 penalties for 85 yards.
“We do not want those penalties, them five-yarders were killing us,” said Lilly, who has kept track of all his tackles in his Bluefield career, which is 594 in four seasons, including 16 against Magnolia. He’s also run for more than 1,200 yards and 19 touchdowns for the Beavers this season.
“We’ve got to stop that and move the ball better and I think we will be OK.”
With a travel day on Thursday, and game day on Friday, Lilly said the Beavers must block out the distractions that this week will offer and practice hard and long in the three days leading up to the bus leaving the school for Wheeling.
“We’ve got a normal week of practice, but we’ve got to practice a little bit longer though to get ready for Wayne,” Lilly said. “There is not much practice time because you’ve got to travel up Thursday and get settled so Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are just going to be harder practices and longer and more focused than weeks before.”
Lilly said the Beavers have been focused all season on their desire to succeed in the postseason. Those goals never wavered, despite two straight losses and the loss of quarterback Levi Beckett to a broken collar bone.
“We were just wanting to win our games and make the playoffs and just get better each week and become a team and have more heart,” said Lilly, who filled in admirably at signal-caller until Beckett’s return.
Perhaps no duo on the Bluefield team is as close as Lilly and classmate Marcus Patterson, whose dazzling 57-yard punt return sparked Bluefield’s comeback from a 3-0 deficit against Magnolia.
A trip back to the state title game, and perhaps their second ring in four seasons? What a way to go out.
“To win it with Marcus, we’ve been playing together since we were little and to play together and finish big,” Lilly said, “I mean that’s just friendship right there, and love.
“There ain’t much more you can ask for.”
