Beech Grove has another solid offense with, from left, junior running back Ayden Brooks, junior quarterback Gavin Mitchell and senior Teron Washington.
(6-4) – Four winning seasons in last five years under coach Mark Weller … challenged again for Indiana Crossroads title … graduated losses include running backs Terrice Pope (8.2 yards per carry) and Sergio Hulse (8.0 yards per carry), quarterback Jordan Reel and lineman Dallas Culpepper … offense averaged 206 yards rushing, only 34 yards passing per game … look for more balance … o-line is big and experienced with senior/ Ohio State commit Josh Fryar, 6-5, 305 pounds, junior Max Comado, 285 pounds, plus seniors Daniel Quinn, 240, and Rayden Tabor, 248 … junior Gavin Mitchell takes over at quarterback … senior Teron Washington (8.4 yards per carry) stands out as running back and linebacker … Jaylon Kendrick, Keyonni Johnson, Damon Tompkins and Dariontai White at slots … linebackers led by Washington, Kendrick and junior Ayden Brooks … d-backs Johnson and senior Donovan Bailey return with senior safety Quanzill Jones and soph Julian Lopez at safety … senior Shawn Small and Jaden Mullins bookends on defense … hope to end three-year sectional win drought.
Coach’s comments: “We lost 16 seniors and that’s tough. We do have a good solid crop of kids coming back. We don’t have much depth so we will have to stay healthy. We’re excited about our potential, but we have to take care of the little things and not beat ourselves. We need to improve our mental toughness. We will have to take advantage of our offensive line that begins with Fryar. I think you will see better balance on offense; we’ll be able to throw the ball more. We lost a ton of experience at linebacker. We have a lot of spots that are up in the air. We are going to be an upper-class team. Our top kids will have to go both ways. Our younger kids have been working to develop, but they will need to progress quickly. We have solidified our program and we want to keep that winning tradition going. When you play in our conference, our experience and leadership will be a big key to our success.”
Coach’s comments: “We lost 16 seniors and that’s tough. We do have a good solid crop of kids coming back. We don’t have much depth so we will have to stay healthy. We’re excited about our potential, but we have to take care of the little things and not beat ourselves. We need to improve our mental toughness. We will have to take advantage of our offensive line that begins with Fryar. I think you will see better balance on offense; we’ll be able to throw the ball more. We lost a ton of experience at linebacker. We have a lot of spots that are up in the air. We are going to be an upper-class team. Our top kids will have to go both ways. Our younger kids have been working to develop, but they will need to progress quickly. We have solidified our program and we want to keep that winning tradition going. When you play in our conference, our experience and leadership will be a big key to our success.”
Four seniors are among Beech Grove Hornets who are counted upon to play offense and defense, from left, cornerback/running back Donovan Bailey, wide receiver/safety Keyonni Johnson, slotback/defensive end Dariontai White and wide receiver/defensive end Shawn Small.
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