Beechwood and Dixie Heights’ matchup on Friday night went a lot differently than last season.
Beechwood took control of the Colonels with a 41-20 win, doing it many ways.
The Tigers escaped Edgewood with a 49-48 overtime victory nearly a year ago, stopping a two-point conversion.
When you have big time players, you can make big time plays and that’s what Clay Hayden and Luke Erdman did.
The two connected for three touchdowns, a 23-yard dot in the second quarter, and a 69-yard score and 39-yard touchdown in the third. Erdman would finish the night with four catches for 142 yards.
“I felt confident in myself,” Erdman said. “The first two games were a little slower with the coverages, but we knew it would be fast-paced game against Dixie. Our goal is to create separation, create that space to make those plays when we need them.”
The relationship between Hayden and Erdman isn’t just what you see on the field, it starts behind-the-scenes.
“The first time we hung out, it was coming to the field and throwing footballs,” Erdman said. “We come up here every weekend during the offseason now. We work on routes that we do during a game and it’s built up that chemistry. It has set us up for success.”
Hayden also had a big play early on with a 36-yard touchdown to James Cusick, who later scored on a fake punt from 51 yards out. The senior quarterback had four touchdowns, 282 yards and completed 62% of his passes.
It was the same plays that crushed Dixie from the start.
“We blew coverage assignments on about five plays that ended in touchdowns,” Dixie Heights head coach Pat Burke said. “They hurt us bad. We can count on our hands those plays that bit us tonight.”
Beechwood halfback Chase Flaherty had his fair share of plays too. He had 31 rushes for 222 yards and a touchdown.
A balanced offense makes the Tigers a dangerous team and they have the weapons to do it.
“Clay, Chase, Luke, Cusick, all have a natural ability to make big plays,” Beechwood head coach Jay Volker said. “Our offense last year was like the air-raid. Now they’re understanding if we commit to running the ball, it’s going to open up some of those big plays. They’re just buying their time and earning their opportunities now.”
The Tigers were also without a key player in Tyler Fryman who was out due to an injury. In the previous two games, he combined for 111 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Beechwood had 522 total yards on offense to the Colonels 389. Dixie couldn’t find their rhythm until the second half, when quarterback Mason Fields and running back Armani Gregg made some key plays.
Gregg found the endzone on a two-yard run, following up with a two-point conversion in the third quarter and Fields had a rushing touchdown and a passing score to Nolan Goetz. Gregg had a team high 86 rushing yards and Fields had 237 passing yards.
“When our offense gets on rhythm and on time, we’re hard to stop,” Burke said “We changed some personnel and it helped us. If we just keep making the the next play we’re explosive enough to make big plays.”
The Tigers led 14-0 by the end of the first eight minutes, 20-0 at halftime, and eventually would grab a 41-8 lead in the game. It turned into a clinic on both sides of the ball that helped them move to 3-0 on the season.
“I told them to enjoy this win,” Volker said. “Don’t get jaded by winning. I think that can happen at Beechwood, where they have so much success that they expect to win. We’ve really got to to enjoy these and it will help us next week.”
Next up is Simon Kenton on the road at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
For Dixie, who drops to 1-2, their schedule remains tough as they go back to Edgewood to face Covington Catholic.
TIGERS 41, COLONELS 20
BEECHWOOD — 14-6-14-7 — 41
DIXIE HEIGHTS — 0-0-8-12 — 20
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(B) Hayden 36-yard pass to Cusick (10:26) Lair kick
(B) Flaherty 28-yard run (4:43) Lair kick
2nd Quarter
(B) Hayden 23-yard pass to Erdman (8:09) Pabst run failed
3rd Quarter
(DH) Gregg 2-yard run (9:29) Gregg run
(B) Hayden 69-yard pass to Erdman (9:12) Lair kick
(B) Hayden 39-yard pass to Erdman (6:17) Lair kick
4th Quarter
(B) Cusick 51-yard fake punt (10:55) Lair kick
(DH) Fields 1-yard run (10:06) Gregg run failed
(DH) Fields 2-yard pass to Goetz (3:30) Fields pass failed
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Beechwood 282 (Hayden 13/19), Dixie Heights 237 (Fields 15/34)
Rushing Yards: Beechwood 240 (Flaherty 31-222, Hayden 5-14, Erdman 1-4), Dixie Heights 152 (Gregg 18-86, Fields 4-42, Anderson 6-22, Mutongwiza 1-2)
Receiving: Beechwood (Erdman 4-142, Cusick 6-95, Sowder 1-29, Flesch 1-15, Flaherty 1-1), Dixie Heights (Anderson 6-58, Morris 2-49, Kriger 2-43, Gregg 3-19, Goetz 2-14)
Turnovers: Beechwood 1, Dixie Heights 1
Penalties: Beechwood 3-20, Dixie Heights 6-35
Records: Beechwood 3-0, Dixie Heights 1-2