21 teams in 21 days: Beechwood football preview

Over the next three weeks and into opening kickoff, look no further than LINK nky to get prepared for high school football season.

For the next 21 days, we’ll preview each and every coverage area team with a season preview. This will be the can’t miss guide to take a look at each team as the season kicks off August 18.

First up is the three-time defending Class 2A state champion Beechwood Tigers. Despite returning 12 starters that started in the state title game from a 14-1 campaign that ended with yet another dramatic victory at the state championship in Lexington, there will be some change on the Tigers sidelines for the upcoming season and it starts at the top.

Jay Volker takes over for Noel Rash, who retired after the season with eight state titles under his belt in his 17-year tenure at Beechwood. Volker won’t necessarily have to re-invent the wheel and is well aware of the expectations in Fort Mitchell.

“It’s a little different when you take over a program that wins a lot. Six state championships out of the last seven years. We do lose a large senior class that comes with a couple of hurdles. Just really trying to build on what Coach Rash has instilled on these guys,” Volker said.

With the amount of injuries the Tigers endured last year, they took on the next man up mentality and that will only benefit them moving forward as many sophomores and juniors had to step up and increase their roles. Clay Hayden returns under center after battling through an injury-plagued 2022 in which he missed five games but still threw for 1,822 yards and 21 touchdowns in 10 games played.

He may not have Mitchell Berger behind him anymore to run the football, but the team also persevered through Berger’s season-ending injury eight games into the season as he was one of the leading candidates for Mr. Football. Volker expects Chase Flaherty to take on the load at running back as he ran for 768 yards and 19 touchdowns a season ago. Flaherty is no stranger to a big game, witnessed by his 115 yards rushing in the state title game against Mayfield and was one of the top pitchers for the Tigers four-peat in the 9th Region on the baseball diamond.

It’s never a rebuild in Fort Mitchell, rather a reload of talent as Volker expects speedster Luke Erdman and James Cusick to be the top targets for Hayden this season. With Erdman’s role increasing, he knows it comes with some intangibles as well.

“Leadership. We only have 10 seniors. We just need to stay focused and approach things week-by-week and not look behind or too far ahead,” Erdman said.

Xavier Campbell returns off an 11-sack season to lead the defense and is making the switch from the defensive line to linebacker. The plan is to allow Campbell to be more productive in the middle of the field while teams can’t gameplan to go to the other side of the field opposite of him while at defensive end.

“A fifth-year starter on defense and you usually don’t get to say that at the high school level,” Volker said. “We’re going to move him around a little bit. Might not have that sack number like he has in year’s past because we’re going to play him at some linebacker based off of depth issues and skillsets. We want to give him the best chance he possibly can to get recruited to play college football. He makes us better when we play him in the middle at inside backer, now you can’t go one side away from him.”

Campbell will also bey a key cog on the offensive line along with Nick Alexander.

Another big question mark is who replaces the playmaking ability on the back end of the defense left by Antonio Robinson Jr., who took his talents to Wake Forest University on a Division I scholarship. Carson Craycraft’s eight interceptions will be a void to fill as well. Volker expects Shawn Sowder to be a key component in the back line of defense.

Beechwood’s real tests will come in their first five games of the season against Archbishop McNicholas (OH), Campbell County, Dixie Heights, Simon Kenton and Covington Catholic before they get into district play against some unfamiliar teams with the new KHSAA district realignment. They’re expected to cruise through the Class 2A, 5th District, taking on Gallatin County, Walton-Verona, Owen County, Carroll County and Bracken County. The Tigers have been so dominant in district play, their last loss against a district opponent came in 2005.

“We just got a big target and we’re ready. We know who is coming after us, so we’re ready,” Campbell said.

Come November, the Tigers will be in the mix once again for yet another state title, but expect usual suspects Mayfield and Lexington Christian Academy to also be in that mix, the two teams that were on the losing end of the Tigers three-peat.

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