Beechwood knew things needed to change after Nov. 24, 2023.
A 31-28 loss to Mayfield in the Class 2A state semifinals revealed a glaring issue. They needed to get stronger up front in order to be able to run the football more effectively.
A little more than a year later — mission accomplished as the Tigers showed a balanced attack, winning the Class 2A state title on Friday at Kroger Field in Lexington, 50-34 over Owensboro Catholic.
“These guys knew going into the off season that we were going to make some adjustments,” Tigers coach Jay Volker said. “We were going to make some changes to get back to this game, to go win another one. They made those changes and allowed us to go win another state championship.”
It’s title No. 18 for the Tigers in program history and fourth in their last five years, and 17th since 1991.
Friday’s title came down to one key stat…being able to extend drives on third down. All day long the Tigers converted in crucial situations, successful on 10-of-14 third down attempts. They were also 1-of-1 on fourth downs, the fourth down conversion coming from Chase Flaherty on a one-yard touchdown run to make it 42-21 Tigers with 5:20 remaining.
“Momentum killers,” Aces coach Jason Morris said. “They did a good job of converting there, offensive line did a good job of giving the quarterback time and he kept the plays alive. They just did a really good job of executing there.”
It was a Herculean type effort from Flaherty, in question if he was even going to play in the game after suffering an ankle injury in the second quarter of last week’s semifinal victory over Lexington Christian Academy.
“To be honest the first time I was running this week was out here in warmups,” Flaherty said. “I hadn’t ran all week, was in a boot. Just wanted to go out there and give it my all and go win another championship.”
Flaherty powered through and scored four touchdowns in the game to go with his 74 rushing yards, later named the game’s MVP. Flaherty was a critical part of the offseason changes Beechwood needed to make. Instead of being a two-way player like he had, Volker wanted Flaherty exclusively on offense to focus on being more of a running team. Flaherty’s postseason will go down in the Tigers record books, he finished with 443 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns in five postseason games.
“Chase was our workhorse because we had a great offensive line and we knew Chase was going to be able to carry us far,” Volker said.
The buy-in had to come from not only Flaherty and the guys up front, but gunslinger Clay Hayden, one of the best quarterbacks northern Kentucky has ever seen. Hayden threw for nearly 4,000 yards last season with 48 touchdowns, but in order for that balance to take shape, Hayden’s numbers would have to take a hit in order to create that balance. Hayden didn’t care, all he wanted was No. 18.
“His numbers dropped a little bit, but he doesn’t care. He’s excited holding that trophy right now inside the locker room getting some pictures and everything. Mission’s accomplished,” Volker said.
Hayden’s ability to extend plays was critical to Friday’s victory. He ran for 37 yards and extended plays on getting out of the pocket and finding receivers, most notably to James Cusick who finished with six catches for 113 yards, all coming in the first half as three of those catches came on critical third down situations.
On the Tigers first scoring drive, they converted three third downs, the last a Flaherty two-yard touchdown run.
In what was expected to be a high-scoring affair and eventually was, took a while to get both teams going, Flaherty’s touchdown coming with 14 seconds left in the first.
Flaherty added another after a Luke Erdman interception return went for 63 yards all the way to the Aces seven-yard line, giving Beechwood a two-score cushion at 14-0.
The Aces kept things within striking distance, but never really threatened Beechwood’s lead, cutting the deficit to seven on two different occasions, but unable to get stops after scoring as Beechwood kept piling points on.
“They had made some remarks about us being a track team, not a very good football program,” Volker said. “We took that to heart. This is No. 18 for a reason. We pride ourselves a little bit in playing football and being good at playing football. We got a lot of guys that are dedicated, and they went out and showed it tonight.”
Back to the balance, Beechwood finished with 385 yards, 219 rushing, 166 passing.
Nathan Pabst and Tyler Fryman added 30-plus yard rushing touchdowns in the third, Fryman’s making it 35-14 with 2:16 left in the quarter.
The Aces added two touchdowns late mixed in with an oddity, an offensive guard returning an onside kick for a touchdown as Tigers’ Jack Meier did what only a lineman can dream of, corralling an onside kick and returning it 50 yards for a score.
“I didn’t expect to go untouched after grabbing it, I thought I was going to get clobbered,” Meier said. “There’s 11 guys running at me so I didn’t know what to expect. I honestly saw them in the shadows and thought I should just go for it.”
Meier’s return symbolized Beechwood’s season, guys stepping up maybe not necessarily in places they’re used to, but had to in order to get No. 18 back to Fort Mitchell.
Beechwood’s 16-man senior class ends with a four-year record of 55-4 with three state championships.
“Our seniors wanted to get back to this game so much,” Volker said. “Just the disappointment of losing to Mayfield in the state semifinals last year they knew they wanted to get back to this game. They wanted to go out as a senior class with a state championship. Put a banner up on the wall, get their names etched into our plaques and everything like that. Just super proud of those guys. Our 16 seniors led the way.”
It’s No. 1 for Volker.
“It’s a relief. Just knowing how successful this program has been and knowing what the goals are,” Volker said.
PHOTO SLIDESHOW: Beechwood vs Owensboro Catholic Class 2A state championship (provided by Charles Bolton)
TIGERS 50, ACES 34
BEECHWOOD — 7-14-14-15 — 50
OWENSBORO CATHOLIC — 0-7-14-13 — 34
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(B) Flaherty 2-yard run (:14) Lair kick
2nd Quarter
(B) Flaherty 2-yard run (9:40) Lair kick
(OC) Atwell 20-yard pass to Ebelhar (6:04) Garvin kick
(B) Flaherty 3-yard rush (:32) Lair kick
3rd Quarter
(OC) Crowe 1-yard run (7:02) Garvin kick
(B) Pabst 33-yard run (4:24) Lair kick
(B) Fryman 36-yard run (2:16) Lair kick
(OC) Atwell 1-yard run (:35) Garvin kick
4th Quarter
(B) Flaherty 1-yard run (5:20) Lair kick
(OC) Atwell 11-yard pass to Crowe (2:41) Garvin kick
(B) Meier 50-yard kickoff return (2:33) Hayden pass to Pabst
(OC) Atwell 5-yard rush (:00)
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Beechwood 166 (Hayden 14/20), Owensboro Catholic 366 (Atwell 29/49, 2 TD, INT)
Rushing Yards: Beechwood 219 (Flaherty 24-74, Pabst 7-64, Hayden 7-37, Fryman 2-35), Owensboro Catholic 97 (Edge 7-46, Atwell 12-36, Carrico 1-8, Crowe 2-7)
Receiving: Beechwood (Cusick 6-113, Fryman 1-18, Flaherty 2-14, Erdman 3-10), Owensboro Catholic (Crowe 11-161, Woodward 6-67, Ebelhar 4-58, Maddox 3-43)
Turnovers: Beechwood 0, Owensboro Catholic 1
Penalties: Beechwood 3-20, Owensboro Catholic 3-25
First Downs: Beechwood 19, Owensboro Catholic 23
Records: Beechwood 14-1, Owensboro Catholic 14-1