There's no substitute for having been there, and done that.

That was the message South Charleston's players heard this week, and it paid off handsomely with Saturday's 28-7 victory over mistake-prone Brooke in the No. 1 vs. 2 showdown for the Class AAA championship game.

Even though they made a road trip of nearly three hours compared to top-seeded Brooke's short jaunt down the Ohio River to Wheeling Island Stadium, the No. 2 Black Eagles could draw on their experience of having played in - and won - last year's title game. The Bruins, meanwhile, hadn't made it this far since 1992.

"They're a good team,'' SC receiver Perry Henry said of the Bruins, "but it's the championship, and we've been here before. They were probably a little bit overexcited and weren't really thinking.

"They clawed back and never gave up the whole game. But we never gave up either. We wanted it. We set a goal at the beginning of the year. We had to repeat, man. I love it for our seniors.''

Several of SC's players, especially Henry and quarterback Tyler Harris, also had championship-game experience from playing on the Black Eagles' basketball squad, which has advanced to the AAA finals at the Charleston Civic Center each of the past three seasons.

SC coach John Messinger isn't expecting Brooke to go away, either, after its turnaround from a 3-7 record to 13-1 and the state's top playoff seed.

"Coach [Tom] Bruney has done a super job up there,'' he said, "and Brooke isn't going anywhere. They're back, and they're around for a while. They played hard until the last snap, and it never really got out of hand. One thing we said about them was that they would never, ever quit. And they didn't quit today. The clock started working against them in the second half and they weren't able to do some of the things they've done normally.

"It's another one of those years where you come out expecting a tight game, a real close game. But it was just a great effort by our defense. That's two weeks in a row now we've had some great defensive football play out there, and that's what really carried us today.''

The anticipated matchup of SC quarterback Tyler Harris and Brooke QB Cotey Wallace, two of the top contenders for the Kennedy Award as the state's top player, worked decidedly in Harris' favor.

Harris hit on 8-of-15 passes for 199 yards and two TDs and ran 47 yards for a third score. He also led the Black Eagles on the ground with 78 yards on 12 carries.

Meanwhile, Wallace was picked off twice and rarely threw deep. He completed 10-of-19 for 89 yards and ran 25 times for 77 yards. His first pass and last pass were intercepted, with the former returned 44 yards by Henry for the game's opening score.

"That really set the tone for the game,'' Bruney said. "Anyone who's seen enough of our games knows that when that happens, that's not the usual Cotey Wallace. Cotey wasn't his normal self today. The way he plays is the way we play.''

A perfect 10?

Bluefield not only captured its 10th overall state championship with Friday's 27-7 victory over Wayne, but it offered a salute to a pair of past coaching legends with the timing of its win.

The Beavers' state title came exactly 50 years after Merrill Gainer won his first in 1959 and 25 years after John Chmara captured his final championship in 1984.

"Coach Gainer did a great job there, and Coach Chmara continued it,'' said Bluefield coach Fred Simon, who won his fourth title on Friday, "and fortunately I got in. The first few years were really tough on me and our community because we didn't do very well, and they hung in there with me. I'm very proud to be part of this great tradition.

"You never get tired of winning. Yes, it's very special and the reason it's special is, one, because of how hard it is to accomplish and, two, the way we had to do it.''

Even though the Beavers (12-2) came into the playoffs with no losses to West Virginia teams, their two out-of-state setbacks put them at the No. 6 seed, which meant they met - in order - teams seeded third (Sherman), second (Magnolia) and first (Wayne) in the final three rounds.

All those teams were unbeaten, and all three games posed long road trips for Bluefield.

"We played a very tough schedule,'' Simon said. "When you've played really good football teams like we have the past few weeks, it's something to accomplish - beating three undefeated teams, like our players did. When you go unbeaten, it's wonderful. But when you have to go on the road and your players are challenged, it's just unbelievable the feeling that I have for these young men.''

Pioneer pain

Wayne's pain was doubled Friday night, not only missing a chance for its second state title, but self-destructing when it got close to the Bluefield end zone.

Four of the Pioneers' five turnovers came inside the Bluefield 15. The other happened at their own 13 to set up a Beavers' score.

"You'd like to tell them it's OK,'' said Wayne coach Tom Harmon, "but you know they don't think it is, and you'd like to take their pain away. I told them it might not be now, but years from now you'll look back at this and you'll think of all the fond memories that took place and the journey that took place. We went through some ups and downs, but it was a high-character group, and I'm very proud to be their coach.

"I do know this: Maybe what we lacked in athleticism, we more than made up for in heart. That's what got us in this position to begin with.''

Wayne came into the game 13-0 and ranked first in Class AA.

Record rush

Six Class AA title game records were broken and one was tied in Bluefield's win.

Bluefield set marks with the longest interception return (97 yards by Marcus Patterson) and fumble return (94 yards by Brad Fox), both of which went for touchdowns.

"Patterson's a very good defensive corner,'' Simon said, "and I'm very happy for him because at some points during the season, people keyed on him and he found it hard to get going on offense. But, you know, tough luck. You've got to find a way to win, and he did.''

The Beavers won despite also establishing records for fewest first downs (four), fewest yards passing (zero), fewest total yards (98) and tied the existing mark with six punts.

Wayne set a record with 268 rushing yards.

"I'm proud of my defense,'' said Bluefield linebacker Jake Lilly. "We came out in the second half and stepped up, played tough when they were on the goal line. I'm proud of this team, and proud to be a Beaver.''

Quick kicks

• With Friday's victory, Bluefield became the winningest playoff team in AA this decade. The Beavers and Wayne came into the game tied with 22 postseason victories each in the 2000s.

• Brooke's probably seen enough game-breaking receivers from Kanawha County. The last time the Bruins made it to the AAA finals in 1992, DuPont's Randy Moss caught a 79-yard TD pass to lead a 36-7 win. That stood as the longest pass play in the Super Six AAA finals until SC's Perry Henry broke it Saturday with his 86-yarder.

• Oops! Friday evening's game started off on the wrong note for Wayne. The Pioneers were welcomed to Island Stadium by a public-address announcement that called them the "Wayne Hillbillies.''