The Battle Of The Bluefields is alive and well in Canada?

      You read that right , Beaver Graham , Graham Beaver , whichever one your household chooses to use. It’s a rivalry that pre dates You and I. 1911 is when the first battle of the Bluefields took place. Fast forward 114 years , 98 games later and history is being made in front of our eyes.

     The start of fall and more importantly high school football season is launched by this storied Great American Series Rivalry year in and year out. Well this year , this year it starts a little early. We’re talking Summer. For the first time in these two storied programs history , they’ll be represented on a professional level playing against each other.

      Cam Allen , a record setting QB who led the Graham G-Men to the Class 2 state championship in 2018. Cam was a 247 Sports 3 Star DB who also finished 3rd ALL TIME in Virginia State History with 61 TDs in a single season as QB of the G-Men. Cam would go onto Purdue where he would start 31 games at Safety , finish 2nd in school history with 13 interceptions and be named All Big Ten 3 seasons in a row. As I write this you can’t help but be in awe at what a career this young man has had so far. The best part is , it’s far from over. Cam had a tryout with the Denver Broncos following the 2024 NFL Draft but he would ultimately find a home going north of Denver. Going to Winnipeg Canada!

      Last week Cam announced he’d be signing with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers! Make no mistake , this is HUGE. The Blue Bombers have played in the last 5 Grey Cups winning 2 of the them. The Grey Cup is the CFLs Super Bowl. Along with the long list of players who took the CFL Route to get to the NFL. From Hall of Famer Warren Moon , to NFL Legend Cameron Wake and I have to bring up Super Bowl Champion Brandon Browner. Speaking of the Broncos , their starting MLB Alex Singleton came from the Calgary Stampeders. This opportunity is massive.

      Where do the Bluefield Beavers come to play in this equation? Yesterday Bluefield Alumni and Central Michigan Standout Offensive Lineman Deiyantei Powell-Woods announced he’ll be taking his talents to the Calgary Stampeders!

     After earning 1st team All State AA paving the way to a state championship along side Kennedy Award Winner Mookie Collier in 2017 , Deiyantei would go on to write his own story of an amazing career at the Central Michigan.

In 2021 he started 11 games on an offensive line that led way for the Nations Leading rusher Lew Nichols III with 1848 yards. After that , The rest is history! He would go on to start 38 games , 25 games consecutively amounting to 2 ALL MAC selections and a trip to play in the Tropical Bowl! After the 2024 NFL draft , Deiyantei would go to find his opportunity across the way , to the CFL!

     Cam Allen and Deiyantei Powell Woods haven’t played against each other in a football game since August 24 2018. That game the Beavers got the nod 38-14. Well now, that’s about to change. For the first time EVER , a Graham graduate and Bluefield graduate will

Play against each other on the professional stage! The excitement I got writing that was insane. This Summer , mark your calendars. Cam’s Blue Bombers travel to Calgary to face off against Deiyantei’s Stampeders July 3rd AND then turn around , the Calgary Stampeders travel to Winnipeg 2 weeks later on July 18th.

So not only do we get to watch the hometown hero’s play against each other once , we get the opportunity to watch it twice.