The Beechwood Tigers open the defense of state title number 16 with a road trip to Louisville facing the Fairdale Bulldogs with a Saturday night kickoff at 7:00.

Fairdale struggled last year to a 7-6 record after going 18-3 in the two prior seasons, including undefeated in 2020. The only blemish on their 2020 record was being forced out of the playoffs in the quarterfinals due to COVID. Fairdale had the widest scoring margin in 5A in 2020, winning by an average of 35.6 points per game. Last year they did not have any signature wins and bowed out of the playoffs in round 2. The Bulldogs return starting QB Jerrel Mason and their top RB Lazarus Vance. They are looking to those key offensive pieces to return them to the form they displayed in 2019 and 2020. 

On the Beechwood side of things, the Tigers are on another historic run. They have 5 championships in the past 6 years (3 in 1A, 2 in 2A). The big question mark for Beechwood in this game is going to be at QB. New starting QB Sophomore Clay Hayden injured his knee in Beechwood's scrimmage versus Cooper. The Tigers tried several options at QB over the second half of the scrimmage. Freshman Cash Harney had the most success running the offense. We will see if the Tigers give him the varsity reps this week. RB/LB Mitchell Berger is one of the top players in the state. CB/WR Antonio Robinson Jr. saw his first action in the Cooper scrimmage. He will be especially fun to watch as a kick returner. The Tigers defense looks outstanding again in their two scrimmages. That defense will be what Beechwood can count on in this game and throughout the season.

Beechwood puts their 23 game winning streak to the test in this opener on the road against a 5A opponent. How do you see this game playing out?

I was told that Fairdale beat Christian Academy of Louisville in a scrimmage tonight so this one may be closer than originally thought.

7 hours ago, BBN_34 said:

I was told that Fairdale beat Christian Academy of Louisville in a scrimmage tonight so this one may be closer than originally thought.

I would be surprised if it is. Fairdale and WV battled to a 6-0 contest in a super controlled formatted scrimmage. 

I’d say Beechwood rolls in this one.

Beechwood running clock.

Tigers defense is too much. I don’t expected the offense to be running on all cylinders as I think Clay Hayden will be out for a week, but the defense will still be stingy. Tigers running clock middle of the way into the 3rd. 

#Ca$hmoneytime

I think Beechwood’s offense starts out a little sluggish but they still win by 3 touchdowns.

Fairdale High School vs. Beechwood High School
AUG 20, 2022 | 7:00 PM EDT
at Fairdale High School | NFHSNetwork.com

Beechwood names the score.  Fairdale will only score on the Beechwood second string.  Maybe.

I am just interested how the offense will look. I know that it will be very heavy running game while Clay is healing up but I would still like to see them open it up a bit regardless who QB's. I know if they want they can run it every play of the game and still be very successful in this game. I hope Cash plays and gets a chance to air it out. Beechwood will be good once Clay comes back because he is going to be a heck of a QB for the next 3 years. The defense is going to be so fun to watch this year. They are all a year older and this defense flied to the ball last year so I can imagine how good they will look this year. I am ready for kick off on Saturday!!!!

1 hour ago, BWTigers said:

I am just interested how the offense will look. I know that it will be very heavy running game while Clay is healing up but I would still like to see them open it up a bit regardless who QB's. I know if they want they can run it every play of the game and still be very successful in this game. I hope Cash plays and gets a chance to air it out. Beechwood will be good once Clay comes back because he is going to be a heck of a QB for the next 3 years. The defense is going to be so fun to watch this year. They are all a year older and this defense flied to the ball last year so I can imagine how good they will look this year. I am ready for kick off on Saturday!!!!

If you were a true Beechwood fan you would be hoping that the freshman QB is successful as well. Both QB's bring a completely different game.  

1 hour ago, Blueboy11 said:

If you were a true Beechwood fan you would be hoping that the freshman QB is successful as well. Both QB's bring a completely different game.  

Oh I am definitely hoping that Cash plays well for sure. I just know when the running game is successful they can get in that groove and not worry about passing much. I just hope they buck that trend and let this young man do what he can do to help the team. 

Pay to play video from the NFHS:

https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/fairdale-high-school-fairdale-ky/gamc7075cb786

On 8/17/2022 at 8:46 AM, Blueboy11 said:

If you were a true Beechwood fan you would be hoping that the freshman QB is successful as well. Both QB's bring a completely different game.  

This post confuses me. Every Tiger fan I know was excited about what Cash did against Cooper. Coming in cold with no varsity reps, it was fun seeing him move the offense. It looked to me like they were teaching him plays as they went along and he still moved the offense against a really good Cooper defense. I can't wait to see what he can do after a week of varsity reps.