Tyler Fryman will get to enjoy his French toast and Nathan Pabst will dig into the cinnamon roll casserole and his mom’s sausage casserole because Beechwood will once again be practicing on Thanksgiving Day.
The Tigers claimed another region title in the Class 2A playoffs, punching their ticket to the KHSAA state semifinals the day after Thanksgiving with a 42-0 win over previously undefeated Prestonsburg.
Beechwood’s morning Thanksgiving practice in preparation for the semis, followed by a massive team breakfast, has become a staple of the program. The Tigers have reached the semifinals every year since 2014, whether in Class 1A or 2A.
“It is a big tradition here at Beechwood,” Pabst said. “We have practice in the morning, run through everything to get ready for the game, and then have an amazing breakfast that the moms, dads and families put together, about 50 different casseroles, snacks, everything you can think of.”
To earn that tradition again, the Tigers had to slow a Prestonsburg team that entered with one of the state’s top rushing attacks. The Blackcats ranked second statewide in rushing yards per game at 362 and total rushing yards at 4,339. They were led by two 1,000 yard rushers in quarterback Alexander Johnson and Kain Patton, the state’s leading scorer at 20.1 points per game.
Beechwood had seen a similar challenge in its only loss of the season on September 19 to Covington Catholic, when quarterback Cash Harney and running back Dylan Gaiser combined for 342 rushing yards and five touchdowns in a 42-14 defeat.
This time, the Tigers were ready.
“Defensively it had me worried,” Beechwood head coach Jay Volker said. “We gave up around 400 rushing yards to CovCath and we made some adjustments. It prepped us and showed us what we needed to do. Patton and Johnson are great players and they have a good scheme, but our guys picked it up.”
Beechwood held Prestonsburg to 127 rushing yards, limiting Patton to 81 yards on 31 carries and Johnson to 34 on six carries, far below their combined season average of 259 yards.
Offensively, Volker felt confident they could go score, and his players delivered.
Brody Aylor, Fryman and Pabst combined for four rushing touchdowns, with Aylor scoring twice and running for 114 of the team’s 226 rushing yards. Fryman and Pabst also caught touchdown passes from Emmett Queen, and Pabst added a punt return score. Queen went 8 for 11 passing with 112 yards.
“First off the line, being able to get open holes, it all starts up front,” Fryman said, who scored on a direct snap. “It is special to be able to catch the ball or just get it straight out of the backfield, but we have plenty of guys who can do it. Nate, Brody, Bo Sowder can do it.”
Leading 7-0 after one and 21-0 at halftime, the Tigers (11-1) pushed the margin to a running clock in the third quarter, then added one more touchdown in the fourth to close out their final home game of the season.
The win sends them on the road next week across from the Eastern to the Central time zone for a rematch of last year’s state title game with Owensboro Catholic, a game Beechwood won 50-34.
In the other Class 2A semifinal, Belfry will take on Lexington Christian.
More photos below, provided by Charles Bolton:
TIGERS 42, BLACKCATS 0
BEECHWOOD — 7-14-14-7 — 42
PRESTONSBURG — 0-0-0-0 — 0
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(B) Aylor 11-yard run (6:42) Lair kick
2nd Quarter
(B) Fryman 6-yard run (11:55) Lair kick
(B) E. Queen 23-yard pass to Fryman (0:48) Lair kick
3rd Quarter
(B) Aylor 9-yard run (10:30) Lair kick
(B) Pabst 60-yard punt return (8:29) Lair kick
4th Quarter
(B) E. Queen 29-yard pass to Pabst (11:49) Lair kick
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Beechwood 112 (E. Queen 8/11), Prestonsburg 35 (A. Johnson 3/6, Patton 0/1)
Rushing Yards: Beechwood 226 (Aylor 8-114, Pabst 7-92, E. Queen 2-13, Fryman 1-6, Wilson 1-1), Prestonsburg 127 (Patton 31-81, A. Johnson 6-34, Hicks 1-6, Craft 1-3, C. Hatfield 4-3)
Receiving: Beechwood (Fryman 3-51, Pabst 3-43, Aylor 1-9, Sowder 1-9), Prestonsburg (Patton 3-35)
Turnovers: Beechwood 0, Prestonsburg 1
Penalties: Beechwood 8-75, Prestonsburg 2-10
Records: Beechwood 11-1, Prestonsburg 12-1