Gallery by Greg Barnett
Bluefield – The odds were stacked against James Monroe all night.
The No. 13-rated Mavericks needed a win on the road at No. 7 Bluefield in the season finale to secure their spot in the playoffs and did themselves no favors early, committing four first-half turnovers.
But their defense dug in and closed the deal.
James Monroe scored a pair of defensive touchdowns, rallying in the fourth quarter for a 28-20 victory over the Beavers Thursday night at Mitchell Stadium.
The win extends James Monroe’s playoff streak to four consecutive seasons and dampens Bluefield’s hopes of hosting a playoff game.
Nearly everything that could go wrong for the Mavericks did early on. Three of their first four drives ended with turnovers including one that saw them reach first-and-goal from the 1. Bluefield capitalized with touchdown drives of 15 and 86 yards but never took advantage of its opportunities the rest of the way.
“(Assistant coach) Jason (Goodman) does such a good job with those guys of setting up where they need to be,” James Monroe head coach John Mustain said. “We made a few adjustments at halftime in terms of how we were going to cover their passing and stuff. Their quarterback did a heck of a job of scrambling, getting some big plays and keeping things alive for them. But, you know, all in all, just a heck of a defensive effort.”
Slowing the Bluefield offense to offset the turnovers was the key for James Monroe and it started with slowing freshman QB Max Simpson. Simpson threw for 88 yards in the first half, proving to be the most efficient conduit for a Beaver offense that rushed for just 37 yards on 17 carries in the first half.
The emphasis on making Simpson uncomfortable with his downfield looks paid off in the second half where he was limited to just two completions for 39 yards with an interception. The coverage looks led to nine scrambles and five sacks on 28 drop backs.
“We just changed up our coverage from what we normally do,” Mustain said. “Normally we’re a three deep coverage team but we kind of got into a little bit more of a of a two deep look with some help. We kind of had a hybrid linebacker in there that we put in to help on some underneath stuff. But, yeah, all in all those kids, they’ve really come on. Those defensive backs have really come on for us this year and did such a good job tonight.”
For the most part Bluefield’s defense did its job, allowing the Maverick offense just two touchdowns, one on a short field following a turnover.
“In the second half they got too much,” Bluefield head coach Fred Simon said. “They rushed too much. I mean the quarterback stepped up and took off and they ran a little shovel pass. That was tough on us early, so I’m not pleased with our defense in the second half. I thought first half was okay, but not the second half.”
The Beaver defense took control early, intercepting James Monroe QB Layton Dowdy on his second pass attempt of the game. Jeff King returned the errant throw 48 yards to the James Monroe 15. Five plays later Ty Patton found the end zone from a yard out to establsih the early advantage.
The Mavericks compiled their second-best drive of the night afterwards, marching 57 yards to the Bluefield 1 before Landon Crane came up with a sack that pushed the visitors back to the 10. The Mavericks fumbled on the next play and Bluefield recovered but proved unable to cash in.
Of the four turnovers committed by the Mavericks, the Beavers turned only the first one into points.
“When you get plays, when you get your opportunities, you got to make plays, and we did not,” Simon said. “Giving up the pick six right there hurt us. And I give them credit because they played harder than we did tonight. They wanted it a little bit more. But when you get turnovers, you got to score, and you can’t give up turnovers for scores. I didn’t think we played a playoff type game that we needed to play tonight.”
Bluefield’s most cohesive drive came in the second quarter where it marched 86 yards in nine plays, capping it with a 30-yard strike from Simpson to King. Dowdy’s third interception on James Monroe’s ensuing drive appeared to be the backbreaker but the Maverick defense had an answer.
Simpson’s pass from the Bluefield 7 was intercepted at the 10 and returned for a touchdowns by Ryan Mann to make it a 13-7 game. The final failure to capitalize came with 13 seconds to go in the half when Dowdy had a pass tipped and intercepted by Willis Wilson who returned it to the James Monroe 10 after a penalty. A 27-yard field goal attempt with four seconds left slipped wide left for the Beavers who held just a 13-7 lead after a half where they won the turnover battle 4-1.
They managed to make their own break out of the half, marching 62 yards and capping another scoring drive with a 1-yard plunge by Patton. It was also the final drive of the night for Willis Wilson, Bluefield’s leading rusher and receiver who spent the rest of the evening limping on the sideline with an ice pack on his lower ankle.
Meanwhile the Maverick offense got out of its own way, marching 61 yards to match the output with a 15-yard scoring run from Brock Parker.
The gut punch came in the fourth quarter just as it started to rain.
A mishandled snap bounced to the goal line where James Monroe’s Baylee Ridgeway recovered it for the tying score. Peyton Gardiner booted the PAT on the next snap to give the visitors their first advantage but the hosts continuously stumbled as their next drive ended when Kadyn Hines picked Simpson, returning the ball to the Bluefield 32. Five plays later Dowdy plunged in a from a yard out with 4:15 remaining for the final score.
Bluefield tried to answer by compiling a 12-play drive but after penalties it netted just 16 yards and ended on a fourth-down pass to an ineligible receiver.
“You can’t have penalties like that in games with a team that’s hungry wants to win,” Simon said. “Untimely penalties and we were just not ready to play.”
For the Mavericks the win caps a turnaround that catapults them into the postseason.
“The panic button got hit a little bit there early on when we started 0-2,” Mustain said. “And it’s a young team. I think we’ve got 30 of our kids who are ninth and 10th graders. A lot of sophomores played tonight and freshmen got in there tonight too. And we kind of got hit with an injury bug coming in after Petersburg too. We lost a couple key players at least, well, three, actually. So it’s just a matter of the next man up and I think the kids bought into that.”
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