Bluefield High School named one of best small-town high school football programs in America
Jun. 25—The Bluefield High School varsity football program has been ranked 20th among the best small-town high school football teams in America, according to a list compiled by the sports website Stadium Talk.
The list and story, which was compiled by Stadium Talk staffer Tony Adame, claims to include the best small-town football program in each of the 50 states, then ranks them in descending order from No. 50 to No. 1.
"Small towns across America produce some of the best high school football being played anywhere, regardless of population size. All 50 states have small-town gridiron powerhouses that define communities for decades," Adame writes in the introduction to the web piece, which can be found at: https://www.stadiumtalk.com/s/best-small-town-high-school-football-teams-bcd52fe170c54682
"So what exactly is a small town? In this case, it's a town with a population of around 10,000 or less. These are the best small-town high school football programs in every state. and they're ranked," the intro continues.
The top-ranked team on the 50 state list, according to Adame, is Aledo High School of Aledo, Texas, which won nine state football championships between 1998 and 2019.
Bluefield High School, which Adame declares as the best small-town high school football program in West Virginia, ranks in the top half of the list.
The entry on Bluefield — which never mentions the team name "Beavers" — notes that Bluefield's population is 10,447 and cites the program's 11 state football championships (1959, 1962, 1965, 1967, 1975, 1984, 1997, 1984, 1997, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2017) and also notes that Bluefield's .778 winning percentage since 2010 (95-27).
The article on Bluefield cites notable Beavers players including Yubrenal Isabelle, Raymond Isabelle, Rick Disibbio, Matthew Carter, Will Cole, Mookie Coller and Sean Martin. It cites John Chmara and Fred Simon as the program's notable coaches
"Bluefield High alum Fred Simon became head coach in 1986 and has led the program to five state championships," Adame writes. "His stewardship of the program meant that Bluefield now has won a state title in seven consecutive decades dating back to the 1950s."
Interestingly enough, Adame's list includes a high school program in a neighboring state not unfamiliar to Beavers athletes and fans — Gate City High School, which was cited as Virginia's best small-town football high school football program and ranked No. 26 overall on the 50-state list.
The Gate City entry mention's Nick Colobro along with Harry Fry as the Blue Devils' notable coaches.
Colobro incidentally played his high school football at Bluefield in the late 1960s, from where he went on to a college football career at Virginia Tech.
In addition to Gate City, Colobro's head coaching credentials included Tazewell (Va.) and Sullivan East (Tenn.) high schools.
These details on Colobro were not mentioned in the Stadium Talk article
The Stadium Talk website is owned by Big Edition, a media corporation which also counts AlwaysPets, FamilyMinded Far & Wide and Work+Money among its internet media brands.
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