On 12/23/2024 at 1:09 PM, Bengal Boy said:

The Coppage kid is a great athlete and has a chance to be a really good QB but he needs a year in the weight room.  I saw where he was playing basketball, no disrespect to the basketball program but if him and Kingston want to get ready for football next season then they need to get off the basketball court and into the weight room.  Look what happened to Maddox Kelly after he gave up basketball he signed a D1 scholarship offer.  I am sure there will be some transfers that should help with OL and DL as well as add depth.  RB is also a question mark.  The Ritter kid is solid but he’s another one who needs to be in the weight room.  The receiving core won’t skip a beat with Fryman, Pabst and Aerosmith.  I guess you could put Fryman or Pabst or maybe even both in the backfield but I think they are better weapons at WR if they have a QB who can get them the ball.  I would prefer they leave Sowder at TE and get him more involved in the offense.  Sowder is definitely a potential D1 football player if he continues to grow.  Overall I think Beechwood will be right back in the mix next season for #19.  The difference between Beechwood and everyone else in 2A is everyone else hopes to win a championship but Beechwood expects to win a championship.

Couldn’t disagree more with this take. Respectfully of course. But kids playing multi sports in high school should never be discouraged or viewed as a negative. They will be just fine if they hit the weights during season AND be in better shape overall. And I can tell you from experience D1 scholarships for lineman are handed out on size and projections.  Basketball players are encouraged to transition to Football because of their footwork / agility. Saw it firsthand at every camp and visit. At the official visit dinner Our sons O-line coach literally told us “yours sons are here for there size.  They are not ready to play against men nor will they for a couple years.”  So my point, playing basketball now will not affect them long term. 
 

As far as QB play goes I really hope that Sowder gets a true shot. I look for #19 to lead BW to #19 ultimately. Admittedly I'm biased on this one but kid has been a gamer his whole life and huge reason they won it all this year. He menaced that QB in title game. Put that pigskin in his hands and he will move it down the field and the machine will roll on…….. 

 

Go Beechies!

The quarterback decision is going to be huge for Beechwood's chances in 2025. In many ways, I see this as the biggest decision for Coach Volker since he became head coach. There isn't an obviously clear favorite. Here is how I size up the potential starters:

Bo Sowder - I see Sowder as the favorite right now. He has the most potential to be a high level threat both throwing and running. He is the clear favorite IMO based on throwing ability. The downside is he was too good an athlete to play JV QB and get reps at QB as the Tigers had to get him on the field as a varsity starter. He had an excellent sophomore season at TE, DE and LB starting varsity but no reps as a sophomore at QB.

Tyler Fryman - Fryman is a great athlete and has varsity reps at QB, but his reps were as a wildcat QB totally focused on running the ball. He has been very impressive running the ball as wildcat QB. The question mark is his passing ability. You have to think he would be a good passer but who knows? I could see him being a lot like former Tigers QB and current CCH QB Cash Harney - a top tier run threat and as a passing threat being effective enough to win the job.  

Cole Coppage - With fellow sophomores Sowder and Fryman starting varsity this past season, Coppage benefitted by getting the reps as JV QB. The JV team had a good year with him at QB. He was mainly a game manager type QB with limited throwing and no running the ball. The JV offense was very running back and running game focused, but no QB runs for Coppage. Someone above commented on his athletic ability but seeing that Sowder and Fryman both started varsity and Coppage didn't, Coppage probably is third of the 3 options listed here so far. The flip side of that is it has been years since Beechwood had a QB that started on both sides of the ball. Do the current Tigers coaches and Coach Volker want to continue having a QB that only plays QB? If so, that helps Coppage because it will be very difficult for Beechwood to limit Sowder or Fryman to QB only. They have a lot of defensive value as we saw this past year.

Kellen Siemer - Siemer was the freshman QB this past year. He was impressive running the ball and got better throwing the ball as the season went on. I highly doubt he starts at varsity QB in 2025 but his name should be mentioned since he started on the freshman team.

Bottom line on all the above - off season work and development are going to be the story. I have seen some big gains in ability between sophomore and junior years. Beechwood's 2 time state champ QB Brayden Burch comes to mind. He had a lot of question marks after his sophomore season as JV QB but he looked like a very different player his junior year. The growth for him the off season between sophomore and junior years was HUGE. He threw for 4,652 yards as a junior in his first season as the starter and won state championships in 2016 and 2017. So any of the above have the opportunity to be that player who makes big improvements and seizes the opportunity to start at QB in 2025. Good luck to all and we'll trust the coaches to make the right decision - as they have for many years.

42 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

The quarterback decision is going to be huge for Beechwood's chances in 2025. In many ways, I see this as the biggest decision for Coach Volker since he became head coach. There isn't an obviously clear favorite. Here is how I size up the potential starters:

Bo Sowder - I see Sowder as the favorite right now. He has the most potential to be a high level threat both throwing and running. He is the clear favorite IMO based on throwing ability. The downside is he was too good an athlete to play JV QB and get reps at QB as the Tigers had to get him on the field as a varsity starter. He had an excellent sophomore season at TE, DE and LB starting varsity but no reps as a sophomore at QB.

Tyler Fryman - Fryman is a great athlete and has varsity reps at QB, but his reps were as a wildcat QB totally focused on running the ball. He has been very impressive running the ball as wildcat QB. The question mark is his passing ability. You have to think he would be a good passer but who knows? I could see him being a lot like former Tigers QB and current CCH QB Cash Harney - a top tier run threat and as a passing threat being effective enough to win the job.  

Cole Coppage - With fellow sophomores Sowder and Fryman starting varsity this past season, Coppage benefitted by getting the reps as JV QB. The JV team had a good year with him at QB. He was mainly a game manager type QB with limited throwing and no running the ball. The JV offense was very running back and running game focused, but no QB runs for Coppage. Someone above commented on his athletic ability but seeing that Sowder and Fryman both started varsity and Coppage didn't, Coppage probably is third of the 3 options listed here so far. The flip side of that is it has been years since Beechwood had a QB that started on both sides of the ball. Do the current Tigers coaches and Coach Volker want to continue having a QB that only plays QB? If so, that helps Coppage because it will be very difficult for Beechwood to limit Sowder or Fryman to QB only. They have a lot of defensive value as we saw this past year.

Kellen Siemer - Siemer was the freshman QB this past year. He was impressive running the ball and got better throwing the ball as the season went on. I highly doubt he starts at varsity QB in 2025 but his name should be mentioned since he started on the freshman team.

Bottom line on all the above - off season work and development are going to be the story. I have seen some big gains in ability between sophomore and junior years. Beechwood's 2 time state champ QB Brayden Burch comes to mind. He had a lot of question marks after his sophomore season as JV QB but he looked like a very different player his junior year. The growth for him the off season between sophomore and junior years was HUGE. He threw for 4,652 yards as a junior in his first season as the starter and won state championships in 2016 and 2017. So any of the above have the opportunity to be that player who makes big improvements and seizes the opportunity to start at QB in 2025. Good luck to all and we'll trust the coaches to make the right decision - as they have for many years.

I agree with you we will trust the coaches to make the right decision and Sowder sounds like a great option.

Is it August yet?

48 minutes ago, theguru said:

I agree with you we will trust the coaches to make the right decision and Sowder sounds like a great option.

Is it August yet?

Not yet, but some workouts are probably happening in Ft. Mitchell already.

I love multi sport athletes but reality is most kids who want to play a college sport usually focus on their main sport by their sophomore season.  I can give you at least 4-5 examples of that from this years team.  Footwork and lateral movement in basketball is great but kids can work on that while they spend 4 months in the weight room gaining much needed muscle, strength and weight.  Many of the kids work with Franks, Novell’s, etc….for speed and agility.  I love basketball and if the young man wants to play basketball I say great but if they really want to focus on a sport they can play in college like football they need to be in the weight room for the next 4 months getting bigger and stronger.  Track would be the one exception because the speed and explosive training you get in track is great for football, especially for the skill guys.  The Fryman kid is excluded, he is a unicorn.  He can walk out on any field or court and be the best player in almost any sport in any season.

17 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

The quarterback decision is going to be huge for Beechwood's chances in 2025. In many ways, I see this as the biggest decision for Coach Volker since he became head coach. There isn't an obviously clear favorite. Here is how I size up the potential starters:

Bo Sowder - I see Sowder as the favorite right now. He has the most potential to be a high level threat both throwing and running. He is the clear favorite IMO based on throwing ability. The downside is he was too good an athlete to play JV QB and get reps at QB as the Tigers had to get him on the field as a varsity starter. He had an excellent sophomore season at TE, DE and LB starting varsity but no reps as a sophomore at QB.

Tyler Fryman - Fryman is a great athlete and has varsity reps at QB, but his reps were as a wildcat QB totally focused on running the ball. He has been very impressive running the ball as wildcat QB. The question mark is his passing ability. You have to think he would be a good passer but who knows? I could see him being a lot like former Tigers QB and current CCH QB Cash Harney - a top tier run threat and as a passing threat being effective enough to win the job.  

Cole Coppage - With fellow sophomores Sowder and Fryman starting varsity this past season, Coppage benefitted by getting the reps as JV QB. The JV team had a good year with him at QB. He was mainly a game manager type QB with limited throwing and no running the ball. The JV offense was very running back and running game focused, but no QB runs for Coppage. Someone above commented on his athletic ability but seeing that Sowder and Fryman both started varsity and Coppage didn't, Coppage probably is third of the 3 options listed here so far. The flip side of that is it has been years since Beechwood had a QB that started on both sides of the ball. Do the current Tigers coaches and Coach Volker want to continue having a QB that only plays QB? If so, that helps Coppage because it will be very difficult for Beechwood to limit Sowder or Fryman to QB only. They have a lot of defensive value as we saw this past year.

Kellen Siemer - Siemer was the freshman QB this past year. He was impressive running the ball and got better throwing the ball as the season went on. I highly doubt he starts at varsity QB in 2025 but his name should be mentioned since he started on the freshman team.

Bottom line on all the above - off season work and development are going to be the story. I have seen some big gains in ability between sophomore and junior years. Beechwood's 2 time state champ QB Brayden Burch comes to mind. He had a lot of question marks after his sophomore season as JV QB but he looked like a very different player his junior year. The growth for him the off season between sophomore and junior years was HUGE. He threw for 4,652 yards as a junior in his first season as the starter and won state championships in 2016 and 2017. So any of the above have the opportunity to be that player who makes big improvements and seizes the opportunity to start at QB in 2025. Good luck to all and we'll trust the coaches to make the right decision - as they have for many years.

You are making the assumption next years QB currently walks the halls of Beechwood. 

2 hours ago, bigblue96 said:

You are making the assumption next years QB currently walks the halls of Beechwood. 

Exactly what I was going to say.  

I have heard that there might be another name in the mix for QB from a school in Park Hills. 

1 hour ago, Kellymt75 said:

I have heard that there might be another name in the mix for QB from a school in Park Hills. 

This would make a lot of sense and would be an absolute steal for Beechwood imo. I’m probably the highest of the Cov Cath posters on Queen, but I think he’s going to be a really high end NKY starter the next two seasons. 

14 minutes ago, CCHFC said:

This would make a lot of sense and would be an absolute steal for Beechwood imo. I’m probably the highest of the Cov Cath posters on Queen, but I think he’s going to be a really high end NKY starter the next two seasons. 

Might have a hard time transferring. He did get some varsity snaps.

I think the best QB option would be Coppage and have Fryman in Wildcat periodically.  It allows Sowder and Fryman to be a couple of more high level players to be accounted for as weapons/mismatches at WR/TE and have a balanced running game like the plan seemed to be this year.

1 hour ago, CCHFC said:

This would make a lot of sense and would be an absolute steal for Beechwood imo. I’m probably the highest of the Cov Cath posters on Queen, but I think he’s going to be a really high end NKY starter the next two seasons. 

I would’ve thought St. Henry would’ve been a better fit, honestly.

On 12/27/2024 at 3:10 PM, Voice of Reason said:

The quarterback decision is going to be huge for Beechwood's chances in 2025. In many ways, I see this as the biggest decision for Coach Volker since he became head coach. There isn't an obviously clear favorite. Here is how I size up the potential starters:

Bo Sowder - I see Sowder as the favorite right now. He has the most potential to be a high level threat both throwing and running. He is the clear favorite IMO based on throwing ability. The downside is he was too good an athlete to play JV QB and get reps at QB as the Tigers had to get him on the field as a varsity starter. He had an excellent sophomore season at TE, DE and LB starting varsity but no reps as a sophomore at QB.

Tyler Fryman - Fryman is a great athlete and has varsity reps at QB, but his reps were as a wildcat QB totally focused on running the ball. He has been very impressive running the ball as wildcat QB. The question mark is his passing ability. You have to think he would be a good passer but who knows? I could see him being a lot like former Tigers QB and current CCH QB Cash Harney - a top tier run threat and as a passing threat being effective enough to win the job.  

Cole Coppage - With fellow sophomores Sowder and Fryman starting varsity this past season, Coppage benefitted by getting the reps as JV QB. The JV team had a good year with him at QB. He was mainly a game manager type QB with limited throwing and no running the ball. The JV offense was very running back and running game focused, but no QB runs for Coppage. Someone above commented on his athletic ability but seeing that Sowder and Fryman both started varsity and Coppage didn't, Coppage probably is third of the 3 options listed here so far. The flip side of that is it has been years since Beechwood had a QB that started on both sides of the ball. Do the current Tigers coaches and Coach Volker want to continue having a QB that only plays QB? If so, that helps Coppage because it will be very difficult for Beechwood to limit Sowder or Fryman to QB only. They have a lot of defensive value as we saw this past year.

Kellen Siemer - Siemer was the freshman QB this past year. He was impressive running the ball and got better throwing the ball as the season went on. I highly doubt he starts at varsity QB in 2025 but his name should be mentioned since he started on the freshman team.

Bottom line on all the above - off season work and development are going to be the story. I have seen some big gains in ability between sophomore and junior years. Beechwood's 2 time state champ QB Brayden Burch comes to mind. He had a lot of question marks after his sophomore season as JV QB but he looked like a very different player his junior year. The growth for him the off season between sophomore and junior years was HUGE. He threw for 4,652 yards as a junior in his first season as the starter and won state championships in 2016 and 2017. So any of the above have the opportunity to be that player who makes big improvements and seizes the opportunity to start at QB in 2025. Good luck to all and we'll trust the coaches to make the right decision - as they have for many years.

Burch was one heck of a quarterback. He impressed me in that Hazard/Beechwood championship game after taking a huge hit and having to go to the sideline for a few plays before coming back out and leading his team down the field for a score. True toughness as he could have folded after the hit he took. 

On 12/27/2024 at 3:10 PM, Voice of Reason said:

The quarterback decision is going to be huge for Beechwood's chances in 2025. In many ways, I see this as the biggest decision for Coach Volker since he became head coach. There isn't an obviously clear favorite. Here is how I size up the potential starters:

Bo Sowder - I see Sowder as the favorite right now. He has the most potential to be a high level threat both throwing and running. He is the clear favorite IMO based on throwing ability. The downside is he was too good an athlete to play JV QB and get reps at QB as the Tigers had to get him on the field as a varsity starter. He had an excellent sophomore season at TE, DE and LB starting varsity but no reps as a sophomore at QB.

Tyler Fryman - Fryman is a great athlete and has varsity reps at QB, but his reps were as a wildcat QB totally focused on running the ball. He has been very impressive running the ball as wildcat QB. The question mark is his passing ability. You have to think he would be a good passer but who knows? I could see him being a lot like former Tigers QB and current CCH QB Cash Harney - a top tier run threat and as a passing threat being effective enough to win the job.  

Cole Coppage - With fellow sophomores Sowder and Fryman starting varsity this past season, Coppage benefitted by getting the reps as JV QB. The JV team had a good year with him at QB. He was mainly a game manager type QB with limited throwing and no running the ball. The JV offense was very running back and running game focused, but no QB runs for Coppage. Someone above commented on his athletic ability but seeing that Sowder and Fryman both started varsity and Coppage didn't, Coppage probably is third of the 3 options listed here so far. The flip side of that is it has been years since Beechwood had a QB that started on both sides of the ball. Do the current Tigers coaches and Coach Volker want to continue having a QB that only plays QB? If so, that helps Coppage because it will be very difficult for Beechwood to limit Sowder or Fryman to QB only. They have a lot of defensive value as we saw this past year.

Kellen Siemer - Siemer was the freshman QB this past year. He was impressive running the ball and got better throwing the ball as the season went on. I highly doubt he starts at varsity QB in 2025 but his name should be mentioned since he started on the freshman team.

Bottom line on all the above - off season work and development are going to be the story. I have seen some big gains in ability between sophomore and junior years. Beechwood's 2 time state champ QB Brayden Burch comes to mind. He had a lot of question marks after his sophomore season as JV QB but he looked like a very different player his junior year. The growth for him the off season between sophomore and junior years was HUGE. He threw for 4,652 yards as a junior in his first season as the starter and won state championships in 2016 and 2017. So any of the above have the opportunity to be that player who makes big improvements and seizes the opportunity to start at QB in 2025. Good luck to all and we'll trust the coaches to make the right decision - as they have for many years.

Burch had a great 2 seasons as the QB, but those 4,652 yards need to be cut in half. When the migration occurred from Riherds to Arbiter, some things got screwed up in the 2016 and 2015 seasons. You need to go back and look at game by game stats for correct stats. Burch had about half of that, which was still a very good season, but 4,652 would be off the charts.

21 hours ago, CCHFC said:

This would make a lot of sense and would be an absolute steal for Beechwood imo. I’m probably the highest of the Cov Cath posters on Queen, but I think he’s going to be a really high end NKY starter the next two seasons. 

Did Queen start at QB for the CCH JV team?