Beechwood High School coach Jay Volker, facing a football decision involving favorable alternatives, began weighing the pros and cons of each. The Tigers could continue slinging the ball around the field with a quarterback who knows how to sling it and remain successful. Or they could pivot slightly away from Clay Hayden’s immense passing abilities in 2024 and be just as successful, maybe even more successful than last year’s final-four statewide finish.
Volker wrestled with the offseason issue, made a determination and ran with it.
“We need to learn how to run the ball in order to bring a state championship back to Fort Mitchell,” Volker said last spring.
While the idea might have seemed at odds with the timing of Hayden’s maturation into one of Kentucky’s top quarterbacks, it made sense to Volker and Hayden.
After absorbing last year’s state tournament semifinal loss to Mayfield, Volker came to believe the eventual champion made Beechwood seem too one-dimensional on offense. Hayden threw for 420 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the contest, giving him 3,910 yards and 48 TDs for the season. The Tigers’ running attack generated just 81 yards on 26 carries, contributing to the loss. The defeat ended Beechwood’s season at 12-2 and one step short of competing for the program’s 18th state title.
“Guys know we have to run the ball,” Volker said during preseason. “If we face a team that can control the clock, we know that’s how we can get beat.”
Hayden, a senior, bought into the change. His take on the adjustment in offensive focus was exactly what Volker was hoping for, and it proved quite comforting for the second-year Beechwood coach.
“My first reaction was, what do I have to do for us to win a state championship,” Hayden said Tuesday on one of the team’s rare off days. “Throwing as much as we did last year was fun, but we lost two games.”
During the offseason, Volker went to work on revamping the offense to ensure a better outcome this year.
“We turned the offensive line over to a new coach, Matt Mercer, a Beechwood grad who played for Cincinnati, and brought in Bryan Flickinger who has a plethora of high school and college coaching experience,” Volker said. “They and our offensive coordinator, Greg Hergott, knew we had to solidify some rules up front and have an answer to teams dropping into coverage. We spent way more time this summer installing a run game that would be complementary to our passing attack.”
The rules were understood up front. Captains Chance Baugh and Jack Meier, fellow seniors Mattox Kelly, Cole Howard and Brody Waddell, and junior Carson Eshelman made sure.
Kelly, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound left tackle, is verbally committed to play football at Illinois State. Howard, a 6-4, 265-pound right tackle, transferred from Moeller (OH) and fortified the line with added size and strength. Waddell, a 6-foot, 240-pound left guard, Baugh, a 6-foot, 225-pound center and the 5-10, 220-pound Meier at guard, pose matchup problems. Eshelman is a 6-3, 265-pound right guard who checks all the boxes. Tight end Bo Sowder and fullback Brody Aylor lend their athleticism to the blocking schemes.
“They all put in a lot of work and put on weight,” said feature back Chase Flaherty. “They’re doing an amazing job.”
Last year, the elusive and aggressive Flaherty rushed for a team-high 676 yards on 122 carries as a two-way starter. He had 33 catches for 391 additional yards. He also was a defensive mainstay, playing both linebacker and safety.
“The team made the decision to get him off of the defensive side of the ball since we knew his workload would increase exponentially compared to last year,” Volker said. “He was completely on board just like Clay.”
Flaherty’s usage on running plays has nearly doubled. The senior is averaging 15.2 carries per game compared to last year’s 8.7. His yards-per-carry average is up more than a yard to 6.6, compared to 5.5 last season. He has 1,012 yards rushing so far this year. He’s scored 17 total TDs in 10 games after scoring 19 in 14 games as a junior.
“He’s a great back,” Hayden said.
Meanwhile, Hayden is 121-for-180 passing for 1,961 yards and 35 TDs with just four interceptions. Beechwood is 9-1 and riding a five-game winning streak after finishing the regular season last week with a road win against Bracken County.
“He knew going into this year that his stats would be down,” Volker said. “But he is a true leader and knew it would pay dividends in November and December as we try to bring back another state championship.”
The results are evident in the numbers. Beechwood’s 2023 per-game offensive averages: 287 yards passing, 117 rushing for a difference of 170 yards. The 2024 per-game averages: 196 passing, 157 rushing, a 39-yard difference.
It’s a balancing act Flaherty is mighty proud of as he gets back to work in preparation for next week’s Class 2A playoffs. The Tigers host Danville next Friday in the postseason opener. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.
“We knew we couldn’t be too one-dimensional, and I just came in doing what I always do,” Flaherty said. “We said we wanted to balance the offense so we would be less predictable.”
Mission accomplished at Beechwood. Now, the chase is on for state title No. 18.