Wayne back in Wheeling
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
By BRIAN WOODSON- The Bluefield Daily Telegraph
It didn’t look good for Wayne.
Trailing 21-0 at the break, the Pioneers were searching for answers last Saturday against Frankfort. They found them in the second half, recovering consecutive onside kicks, scoring 27 points and advancing to the Class AA state championship game with a 27-21 win.
“It’s one of those things with playoff football where both teams want to win really bad,” Wayne head coach Tom Harmon said. “We got on the wrong end of the table for 24 minutes and came out for the second half and the tide kind of turned for us.
“You have to give credit to Frankfort for the way they executed in the first half, but you have to give credit to our kids for not giving up hope. That’s something I know the folks in Bluefield are very familiar with. Your faith gets tested at times and you have to have a good team to respond in those times.”
Bluefield faced a similar situation last week. Although the Beavers trailed just 3-0 midway through the third quarter, they had 19 yards on offense and simply didn’t seem to have an answer for getting the ball into the end zone.
Yet, the Beavers did it twice, and left Magnolia with a 13-10 win, meaning the Beavers (11-2) will meet the Pioneers (13-0) for the Class AA state title on Friday in Wheeling.
Among the Beavers’ nine state titles since 1959 is a 69-24 win over the Pioneers for the ‘04 championship.
“One of the things you can always count on with Bluefield is quality coaching, and they do a nice job of getting their playmakers in places where they can make plays.” Harmon said. “They do a good job of adapting to the tools in their shed each year.”
Harmon, who has seen Bluefield in person and on film, is especially impressed with the Beavers’ skill players, including hard-nosed senior Jake Lilly and classmate Marcus Patterson, whose dazzling punt return helped make the Beavers a winner against Magnolia.
“As far as weapons this year, in my opinion you are talking about one of the — if not the best — player in the state in Jake Lilly, and the same can be said about Patterson and his play-making ability,” Harmon said. “As if that isn’t enough, you can throw in a quarterback that can throw, a fullback that can run as hard as anyone and speed on the edge.
“That is a nice combination, and you put those same players on defense and they’re as good as anyone. I have nothing but good things to say about their whole operation.”
Wayne, which won the state title against Tolsia in 2006, has an unblemished record, with their only single-digit victory coming against Frankfort. The Pioneers will make their fourth state finals trip this decade, losing to Bridgeport in 2000.
“We’ve had our ups and downs this year, but for the most part we have played consistent football,” said Harmon, who is in his 13th season at Wayne. “We haven’t been tested each week, but when we have been tested we have responded. You can’t really ask for a whole lot more at this point.”
The Pioneers are a run-based offense, led by Corey Damron, who has 1,582 yards and 18 touchdowns. Adam Frazier has thrown for 651 yards, while their leading receiver, Seth Merritt, has just 11 receptions.
“We’ve got a decent stable of backs that have been able to pick up some good yards in tough situations,” said Harmon, whose Pioneers have scored 53 touchdowns on the ground, while holding opponent to 14. “The key ingredient to all that is that it’s all 11 executing what they’re supposed to do. Sometimes the names change each week.”
Change can also define the Beavers, which threw the ball all over the field against Wayne in last year’s quarterfinals, only to fall short by six points. This Bluefield squad would rather run the ball, and they’ve done it well behind Lilly, Patterson, quarterback Levi Beckett and Brad Fox, all behind an experienced and much-improved offensive line.
“The common denominator of Bluefield football is they’ve been able to win through the air and win through the ground, and win doing both,” Harmon said. “From what I have seen out of this year’s team, they are capable of doing it both ways.
“That is the added problem anytime you’re going to play Bluefield.”
Wayne, which lost in the state semifinals last season, entered this year with the same expectations that Bluefield always seems to have. Win a lot and get to Wheeling.
“We’ve won enough games at Wayne that we expect to win,” Harmon said. “Our philosophy has always been to try and get as good a seeding as you can and focus on one week at a time. I know there won’t be anymore focus after this week.
“Did I think we would get here? I thought we had a shot, but things had to fall in place and luckily it has so far.”
Tradition rules at Wheeling on Friday. Bluefield is making its sixth state finals appearance in the last eight years, while Wayne will be there for the fourth time in the last nine seasons.
There’s a lot of secrets to success, but Harmon boils it down some.
“I think a big part of it is winning gets to be an expectation and unfortunately the same goes for losing,” Harmon said. “Once the ball gets going in the right direction the way Bluefield has, and you add the pride factor to the kids there, that will carry you through some of the tough times.”
