Weir - the champs: Smith keys Red Riders’ lopsided victory
Saturday, December 3, 2005
By Rick Ryan - The Charleston Gazette

WHEELING — Weir finally settled accounts with Bluefield Friday night. The Red Riders owed one to the Beavers, and played like it.

Senior fullback Josh Smith ran for 215 yards and scored three touchdowns as Weir blanked defending champion Bluefield 40-0 in the Class AA championship game at Wheeling Island Stadium. An estimated crowd of 6,000 braved 20-degree temperatures and occasional snow flurries.

Smith, who carried 15 times, scored on runs of 36 and 77 yards and caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Sperlazza. Smith’s average per carry of 14.3 yards broke the AA title game record.

Bluefield (8-5), the No. 11 seed, paved its own demise by turning the ball over six times, including two that Weir returned for scores. The Red Riders limited the Beavers to 125 net yards.

“I said from the beginning of the year that there’s no defense like ours,’’ said Weir senior linebacker Michael Buffo. “We’re like sharks in the water going for blood.’’

Weir (13-1), the fourth seed, had been tormented by past playoff failures against the Beavers.

Two years ago, Bluefield edged Weir 37-30 in the quarterfinal round, a loss cemented when the Riders lost a fumble at the Beavers 2-yard line in the second overtime.

Then last year, Weir suffered an agonizing 21-20 semifinal loss in OT after it held a 14-0 lead and had the ball on the Beavers 32 with 2:28 left.

“I’m glad it happened like this that we got to face Bluefield in the finals,’’ said Sperlazza, a senior quarterback and three-year starter. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I think everyone kind of figured we owed them one, and it was great. It’s a joy and it’s a relief. It’s both. I’m so glad. I never felt like this before. It’s so great right now.’’

Bluefield trailed just 6-0 at halftime on Smith’s 36-yard run, but had three strong opportunities to grab the lead in the opening quarter.

The Beavers’ first three possessions reached the Weir 26, 13 and 15. The first ended on downs, the second on a lost fumble and the third was bogged down when a personal foul turned third-and-6 into third-and-21.

“I was disappointed we didn’t get a touchdown there in the first half,’’ said Bluefield coach Fred Simon. “It would have been a big momentum swing if we got a touchdown or field goal to take the early lead. It would have been nice for us, but we never did.’’

Instead of playing from in front, the Beavers were forced to play catch-up.

Weir nearly doubled its lead in the final seconds of the first half by driving 82 yards, but Sperlazza threw two incompletions into the end zone from the Bluefield 5. The final one was dropped by Jordan Taflan.

Bluefield wasn’t as lucky to start the second half as Weir scored on three of its first four possessions.

Senior tailback Corey Lyons had an 11-yard touchdown run, Sperlazza hit Smith with a 7-yard scoring toss and Smith pretty much sealed the deal with a 77-yard sprint down the right sideline to make it 26-0 with 9:21 left in the game.

As he headed to the bench area, Smith got a high-five from former Weir and West Virginia University standout Quincy Wilson, who walked the Red Riders sideline. Wilson, who played on Weir’s last AA title team in 1998, is currently on the practice squad of the Cincinnati Bengals, who play in Pittsburgh Sunday.

Four of the Beavers’ first five drives in the second half, meanwhile, ended in turnovers, two of them returned by Weir for scores in the last six minutes of the game.

Jason Larch fell on a fumble in the end zone after teammate Chaz Davidson stole the ball out of the arms of Bluefield quarterback Eric McClanahan at the Beavers 25 and brought it to the 1.

On Bluefield’s next offensive play, Lyons scooped up a fumble and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown.

“Turnovers and penalties are crucial in state playoff championships,’’ Simon said, “and we lost that battle.

“[Weir’s] a good football team and they deserved to win tonight, but I promise you they’re not 40 points better than we are. You can’t turn the ball over for touchdowns. Teams can really be close talent-wise, but a few turnovers can make it look awful, and that’s what happened.’’

Lyons, Weir’s leading rusher on the season, also went over the 100-yard mark as he carried 16 times for 101 yards. Sperlazza hit on 4-of-8 passes for 71 yards, with Jason Gatto landing three for 64 yards. Gatto also picked off a Bluefield pass.

Red Riders coach Eric Meek was pleased his team turned in a complete performance on offense and defense.

“I’m proud of this team as a whole,’’ he said. “Everything we do just coincides with each other. We’re a team and we emphasize team, and that’s doing things right and being good people on the field and off the field.’’

Meek, a first-year coach, chose not to overplay the revenge factor with Bluefield.

“It doesn’t mean too much to me,’’ he said. “They have a great team and the bottom line — we’re the champion. We would have played anyone today.’’

For Bluefield, Allen Carter ran 15 times for 59 yards and McClanahan completed 4-of-17 passes for 40 yards with two interceptions. The Beavers gained just 85 yards on 48 carries after averaging 274 yards rushing in their three previous playoff wins.

To contact staff writer Rick Ryan, use e-mail or call 348-5175.