Beechwood has been the top-ranked Class A football team in the state since the start of the season and the Tigers are one win away from living up to everyone’s expectations.
Beechwood defeated Crittenden County, 34-0, in a state semifinal game on Friday to advance to the championship final. The Tigers will face Hazard in the title game at 11 a.m. next Friday at Papa John’s Stadium in Louisville.
“It’s definitely been a lot of pressure, but it feels unbelievable,” Beechwood defensive end Brady Slusher said of making it back to the state finals. “But we haven’t finished yet. We have one more to go.”
Beechwood won its 10th Class A state title last year and the Tigers will be favored once again next Friday. They’ve been playing so well that the average margin of victory in their first four playoff games was 38 points.
“We feel like we’re playing Beechwood football, which means running the football, stopping the run and playing physical,” said Beechwood coach Noel Rash. “When we do that we feel like we always have a shot (at the state title).”
In Friday’s semifinal game, Beechwood rushed for 220 of its 319 total yards. The team leader was senior tailback Neico Teipel, who picked up 185 yards on 26 carries and scored four touchdowns.
“We were passing, running, doing it all,” Teipel said. “Our front five (lineman) though, you’ve got to thank them for everything. They’re getting it done.”
Those same linemen anchored an impressive defensive effort that limited Crittenden County to less than 50 total yards in the shutout.
“That’s state championship caliber football right there,” said Crittenden County coach Al Starnes. “As our offensive coordinator, I was trying to find holes in their defense and there weren’t any. They’re just a solid football team all the way through.”
Beechwood scored on its first two offensive possessions with touchdown runs by junior quarterback Matt Rigdon and Teipel capping off the drives.
Teipel scored his second touchdown with 3:27 left in the second quarter to make 21-0, but he made a costly mistake on the team’s next offensive series.
Rigdon broke loose on a 99-yard scoring run, but an illegal block by Teipel nullified the touchdown.
“We had more penalties than we usually do,” Teipel said. “The biggest one was the 99-yarder that was kind of my fault. I’ll take Matt out to lunch to make up for that one.”
Teipel actually made amends for his mistake in the third quarter when he scored twice to extend the Tigers’ lead to 34-0.
Teipel will go into next week’s state championship game with impressive season totals of 2,176 yards and 36 touchdowns.
“It feels great getting back to the state final, and hopefully we’ll repeat,” he said. “I haven’t really heard that much about Hazard, but we’ll watch film on them and know all about them by the end of next week.”
Hazard defeated Lexington Christian, 28-21, in the other state semifinal game on Friday to advance to the state finals for the first time ever.
| CRITTENDEN CO. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --0 |
| at BEECHWOOD | 14 | 7 | 13 | 0 | --34 |
B–Rigdon 10 run (Burke kick)
B–Teipel 8 run (Burke kick)
B–Teipel 25 run (Burke kick)
B–Teipel 37 run (Burke kick)
B–Teipel 4 run (kick failed)
RECORDS: Beechwood 13-1, Crittenden County 10-4.
