WAYNE - Maybe Wayne football coach Tom Harmon offered the best summation of Friday night's contest between the past two West Virginia Class AA champions.

"It was a game people will be talking about for a long time,'' said Harmon.

Bluefield erased much of a three-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter, rallying to within a touchdown of No. 3 Wayne in the waning moments, but the Pioneer defense stood tall on a red-zone stand in the final minute to preserve a 41-35 quarterfinal victory over the defending state champions.

The Pioneers face Grafton next weekend.

When Wayne's Corey Damron dived into the end zone from 3 yards out with 8:41 left in the game, it appeared Bluefield wouldn't have enough time to rally from a 41-21 deficit. In fact, some fans began filing out after Damron's score, his second of the night.

But it took the Beavers just five plays and three minutes to respond as Will Cole hit Marcus Patterson on a 10-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 41-28, and they Beavers weren't finished.

On its ensuring possession, Wayne (11-1) marched to the Bluefield 21 and turned the ball over on downs. Four plays later, the Beavers again struck paydirt when Cole scrambled in from 7 yards out to bring Bluefield within a TD at 41-35 with less than two minutes left. The key play on the drive was a 34-yard pass from Cole to Patterson.

Bluefield (7-5) then recovered an onside kick with just over 90 seconds left. With no timeouts, the Beavers needed to travel 43 yards to keep their title hopes alive. They didn't quite make it.

Cole connected with Jake Lilly on a screen pass that picked up 29 yards to the Wayne 14, but that was as close as they could get as the Beavers failed on four pass attempts.

WAYNE - Maybe Wayne football coach Tom Harmon offered the best summation of Friday night's contest between the past two West Virginia Class AA champions.

"It was a game people will be talking about for a long time,'' said Harmon.

Bluefield erased much of a three-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter, rallying to within a touchdown of No. 3 Wayne in the waning moments, but the Pioneer defense stood tall on a red-zone stand in the final minute to preserve a 41-35 quarterfinal victory over the defending state champions.

The Pioneers face Grafton next weekend.

When Wayne's Corey Damron dived into the end zone from 3 yards out with 8:41 left in the game, it appeared Bluefield wouldn't have enough time to rally from a 41-21 deficit. In fact, some fans began filing out after Damron's score, his second of the night.

But it took the Beavers just five plays and three minutes to respond as Will Cole hit Marcus Patterson on a 10-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 41-28, and they Beavers weren't finished.

On its ensuring possession, Wayne (11-1) marched to the Bluefield 21 and turned the ball over on downs. Four plays later, the Beavers again struck paydirt when Cole scrambled in from 7 yards out to bring Bluefield within a TD at 41-35 with less than two minutes left. The key play on the drive was a 34-yard pass from Cole to Patterson.

Bluefield (7-5) then recovered an onside kick with just over 90 seconds left. With no timeouts, the Beavers needed to travel 43 yards to keep their title hopes alive. They didn't quite make it.

Cole connected with Jake Lilly on a screen pass that picked up 29 yards to the Wayne 14, but that was as close as they could get as the Beavers failed on four pass attempts.

"Well, it's a playoff game and it's exciting," Harmon said. "Both teams played well on both sides of the ball. As far as ranking them, it's all about surviving this time of year."

When discussing his team's heart, Bluefield coach Fred Simon spoke with emotion.

"They didn't stop believing," Simon said. "I'm proud of them; I have to be. We're down three scores in the fourth quarter, and these kids didn't let down."

Cole, who entered the night as the state's top passer, wore the school motto emblazoned under his eyes.

"We have a motto at Bluefield that says, 'We Believe,' and we never let up. We just couldn't pull it out," Cole said.

Josh Meddings had three interceptions for Wayne, all of which led to Pioneer TDs. Damron gashed the Beaver defense for 113 yards and two scores.

"We didn't make a whole lot of mistakes, and when you can eliminate mistakes in a big game, it pays off," Harmon said. "If you take care of the football and do things right, sometimes you can beat a really class, talented football team."

After the teams traded scores early in the first quarter, Austin Mills returned a kickoff 93 yards for a score to give the Pioneers a 13-7 lead.