WHEELING — Fairmont Senior, the top-ranked team in Class AA throughout the season, found its perfect ending Friday night.
A stellar defensive effort made two first-quarter scores stand up as the Polar Bears defeated No. 2 Bluefield 23-13 for the Class AA state championship at Wheeling Island Stadium.
Connor Neal threw his 46th touchdown pass of the season and Breeden Gilbert ran for 115 yards to give Fairmont Senior (14-0) its first football title since 1946 and some relief after losing in the state final the last two years. That included a 29-26 setback to Bluefield in 2017.
Despite having one of the state’s top passing attacks keyed by Neal, the Polar Bears stuck to the ground on 44 of their 63 offensive plays. The approach worked for 226 rushing yards, including 115 on 22 carries by Breeden Gilbert and 99 on 11 attempts from Rhett Heston.
“It starts with our offensive line and our offensive line was very physical,” Polar Bears coach Nick Bartic said. “They really stayed the course and did what they did all year and that’s why we got to this point. We can throw it obviously, but you have to be able to run the ball to win championships to some degree, and our guys did that to finish the game.”
Jamere Edwards ran for 111 yards on 13 carries but Bluefield (12-2) managed only 134 yards rushing, fewer than half its season average.
“You’ve got to play very physical with these guys,” Fairmont Senior coach Nick Bartic said. “And our guys had to be very disciplined against their misdirection and power schemes.”
Fairmont Senior outgained Bluefield 413-274 overall.
“Physically, they were pretty tough,” Bluefield coach Fred Simon said. “I think they were more physical than us at the beginning and it hurt us a little bit. We hurt their feelings last year and I think that hurt us some, because they were hungry and hats off to them for that.
“You just have to make plays and we didn’t make them when we needed to.”
After taking a 6-0 lead on Rhett Heston’s 44-yard touchdown run 5:29 into the game, the Polar Bears’ two-point pass fell incomplete.
Neal’s 25-yard pass to J.D. Smith with 2:59 left in the first quarter pushed the lead to 13-0.
Neal finished 13-of-19 passing for 187 yards. Gilbert carried 22 times, including a 2-yard touchdown run that extended the lead to 20-0.
The Beavers answered just 95 seconds later when quarterback Chandler Cooper threw a 59-yard pass to Ronnell Blevins.
Frankie Smith’s 25-yard field goal late in the third quarter gave Fairmont Senior a 23-7 cushion.
The Beavers pulled to within 10 with 10:48 to play on Cooper’s 42-yard strike to Isaiah Johnson, but the quarterback was stopped short on the two-point try.
Bluefield got the ball back with a chance to pull closer, but Cooper fumbled on a quarterback sneak and Heston recovered with 8:07 left.
Cooper completed 7-of-14 passes for 146 yards, two scores and one interception.
The Polar Bears ran off 6-plus minutes on their ensuing drive to seal the victory.
“I mean, what a drive to milk the clock like that in the fourth quarter,” Bartic said.
Appearing in its 17th state final, Bluefield had won 11 championships across Class AAA and AA.
Bluefield’s Sean Martin made a game-high 15 tackles, including two tackles for loss and one sack.
Fairmont Senior’s Zach Frazier had seven tackles and a pair of sacks.
