Beechwood and Dixie Heights high schools are less than three miles apart along Dixie Highway in northern Kenton County. Many players on both teams grew up playing youth football together on the same teams.
That led to a lot of chatter and posing for pictures in postgame as many of the players were facing each other for the final time.
It was visiting Beechwood leaving Dixie’s Rice Mountjoy Stadium victorious with a hard-fought 21-14 win Friday night.
The Tigers, top-ranked in 2A in the Kentucky Associated Press media poll, improved to a perfect 6-0 while Dixie fell to 3-3.
“We battled through adversity,” said Beechwood senior Parker Mason. “We knew it would be a tough game. We grew up playing with these guys.”
The Tigers completed a sweep of their two neighbors named Colonels after beating Covington Catholic 27-7 on Sept. 17.
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In doing so, Beechwood came from behind for the first time all season and had to make clutch plays in the second half to get the lead and then keep it.
“We knew they were going to come out and be physical,” said Beechwood’s Mitchell Berger. “They were a physical team last year and we knew they would be this year. We just had to run our stuff and stick with what worked.”
Beechwood seemed to have the game on ice after taking a 21-7 lead with 5:37 to go in the game.
Beechwood started that drive at its 2-yard line after Dixie Heights elected to punt from the Beechwood 37 with 10:30 to go, and Dixie downed the ball at the 3.
A false start moved the Colonels back to the 42, and they punted again, and the Beechwood returner unwisely caught the ball at his 1-yard line and was tackled at the 2.
That didn’t bother senior quarterback Cameron Hergott and the Beechwood offense, which marched 98 yards in five minutes. Hergott had two runs of 10 or more yards and double-digit completion plays to Mason and Jack Sleet.
Hergott finished the drive by weaving through gaps in the Dixie defense and scoring on a 12-yard touchdown run.
Dixie came right back and scored on a 35-yard pass by Logan Landers, who threw a laser to Ryan Dilts at the goal line. The PAT made it 21-14 with 3:04 to go.
Dixie then converted the onside kick when senior Blake Stouffer leaped to grab the ball in the air just as it passed the 50-yard line, meeting the 10-yard threshold for a legal onside kick. A penalty by Beechwood on the line moved the ball to the Tigers 35, and the Colonels were in business.
Two penalties set the Colonels back, one negating a first-down pass by Landers to the Beechwood 24. In the final minute of the game, Landers threw two long passes in the end zone to senior Devin Holbert, but Beechwood defended both to clinch it.
Beechwood has allowed six touchdowns all season including the two Friday night.
Holbert is one of the top receivers in Northern Kentucky, and Mason covered him most of the time.
“He’s good,” Mason said. “I’ve known him a long time. Good receiver. Big kid. Our defense is tough. We have seven or eight guys who play both ways and don’t come off the field the whole game. We get tired a little but but we pull through it. We have a great back four, big guys up front. Great linebackers.”
The first half went quickly, lasting about 45 minutes, with each team having only three possessions.
Beechwood drove from the opening kickoff and held the ball for five minutes. The Tigers had second-and-goal from the Dixie 1, but the Colonels’ line stuffed the Tigers on three straight plays.
The Colonels got the ball and drove 98 yards in over nine minutes, culminating in a TD run by Pierce Rohlman early in the second quarter that gave Beechwood its first deficit of the year.
Beechwood came back and drove to the Dixie 37. Facing a fourth-and-one, Hergott rolled out and threw a pass, but Rohlman had position and intercepted it to end the threat.
Dixie then went for it at fourth-and-one from midfield and the Tigers stopped the run, getting the ball back.
Beechwood took advantage as Hergott found Brett Holladay for a 37-yard touchdown. Hergott launched a long ball to Holladay, who made a fingertip grab in the end zone.
Dixie had a chance at the end of the half after senior Aumad Edwards returned the ensuing kickoff to the Beechwood 27. But Noah Koenig’s field-goal attempt hit the upright.
Dixie got the ball to start the second half and drove into Beechwood territory. With 7:45 to go in the third quarter, Dixie converted a fourth down but the play was negated by a penalty, one of several key flags for both teams.
“We won the game and I’m proud of our kids for fighting and clawing back,” said Beechwood head coach Noel Rash. “Our lack of discipline is going to come back and bite us in the heiney if we don’t get it cleaned up. And that falls on me and me only. That’s my fault. It will get fixed. Too many penalties, too may alignment mistakes. At the end of the day, Dixie is one heck of a football team and very physical.”
Beechwood got the ball back and faced a third-and-19 after Hergott was sacked for a 17-yard loss by Dixie sophomore Brach Rice.
The Tigers converted when Hergott rolled out to his left and found Berger wide open in the middle for the field. Berger outran everyone to the goal line for a 40-yard TD pass.
“It was a broken play,” Berger said. “I just had to find the hole and make people miss.”
Beechwood 0 7 7 7-21
Dixie Heights 0 7 0 7-14
D – Rohlman 2 run (Koenig kick)
B – Holladay 37 pass from Hergott (Conrad kick)
B – Berger 40 pass from Hergott (Conrad kick)
B – Hergott 12 run (Conrad kick)
D – Dilts 35 pass from Landers (Koenig kick)
Records: B 6-0, DH 3-3
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