Playmaker: Patterson wants one more ring
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
By JED LOCKETT- The Bluefield Daily Telegraph
There are many players on the Bluefield Beavers’ roster for whom Friday’s Class AA state championship game against Wayne is especially meaningful. Marcus Patterson is one of them.
A senior, Patterson is the proud owner of one championship ring, earned when the Beavers beat James Monroe 20-12 two years ago. Now he has a second chance at a second prize.
“It feels great to get a chance at a state championship game as a senior,” Patterson said.
“Sophomore year, it meant a lot to me. But as a senior, I’m wanting a lot more to come out with a win as a state champion and as your last year in high school playing football.
“I’m just going to give it my all just like all the other games, but try to go even harder.”
Patterson has been known throughout his career as a playmaker capable of producing big gains at big times. But this year he has been slowed by defenses who knew what he could do and were tuned in to stop it. He has just 649 yards and eight touchdowns rushing and 18 catches for 384 yards and three scores for the season.
“I came on late mainly because teams were keying on me, teams weren’t punting to me,” Patterson said. “But I got my chance and I made the most of it.”
That chance came in the playoffs. He ran wild against Liberty-Raleigh, scoring touchdowns on an 85-yard run, a 74-yard pass, a 30 yard interception return and added 156 yards on punt returns.
He had a quiet week against Sherman in the quarterfinals. But in Bluefield’s semifinal win over Magnolia, he returned a punt for a 57-yard touchdown and added a halfback pass for 33 yards to set up another score.
It does not matter to Patterson whether his number is called or not. It only mattered that the Beavers were victorious.
“As long as we were winning I didn’t really mind it,” Patterson said. “But I didn’t really get to show what I could do. But as the season came on and started the playoffs, teams hadn’t really been keying on me as much and as a senior, it’s my job to step up at any time.”
Another reason Patterson may not have big numbers is the Beavers’ abundance of talented skill-position players.
“We’ve got Jake Lilly, Brad (Fox), Levi (Beckett), we’ve got some that come off the bench,” Patterson said. “At anytime, they can break a big play.”
Patterson and the Beavers have worked their way through a roller-coaster season. After winning their first three games by a combined score of 115-20, they lost their next two.
They have not lost since.
“It’s been an up-and-down season,” Patterson said. “We’ve lost some games that we should’ve won. But we really came together when we really needed it and we’re making the best of it. We’re going to try for a state championship.”
Win or lose, Friday night will mark Patterson’s final game as a member of the Bluefield Beavers.
“I’ve grown a lot,” he said. “When I started as a freshman, I wasn’t very strong. I wasn’t very fast. But the weightlifting program helps you get fast, helps you get strong and from this last year you could see a big difference in the lifting and the speed and I feel a lot better this year.”
The senior has also learned to maintain his focus and get the job done.
“You’ve got to work for something and you’ve got people coming, telling you ‘Good game.’ and stuff and you’ve got to let that go in one ear and out the other and get ready for the next week,” Patterson said.
“And I’ve got a lot of people telling me stuff about the state championship game and telling us how they already booked a hotel and all that. We just have to let that go and just win in the playoffs when we get there and we’re there. So we’re going to give it our best.”
Patterson’s family has watched him grow and mature from a boy into a young man. On Friday, they will watch him in what he hopes will be his finest hour.
“It means a lot to them,” Patterson said. “They’re all coming up. They’re all standing up and they hope the best for me.
“It means a lot for my family to make the trip up and see me playing my last high school game and hopefully we’ll come out with the win.”
Patterson is going into this game with the mindset of a leader — that if and when he is needed, he will be there to make a contribution.
“Mindset for this game is as a senior to make sure I’m a captain at all times and make sure I’m ready at any time of the game, any time we need a big play, I’m there,” Patterson said. “Any time we need someone to step up and be a captain, I’m there.”
Patterson is not just thinking about rising to the occasion. He also wants to avenge the Beavers’ 41-35 loss to Wayne in the 2008 playoffs.
“I think it’s going to be a good game,” Patterson said. “But the main thing about it is we’ve got to get a bit of revenge from what they got on us last year.
“I want it so bad, it’d mean a lot. We’re just going to give it our all, we’re going to practice hard and we’ll see what the outcome is.”
After four years of football at Bluefield High School, Patterson has a lot of images committed to his memory bank. But when asked what his greatest memory was as a Beaver, he responded with five words that he hopes ring true early Saturday morning.
“That’s yet to be written,” Patterson said.
