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Friday Night Lights: Beachler, Tigers locked and loaded for season-opener
The last time the Nevada Tiger football program posted an above .500 record was 2012, under then-head coach Wes Beachler. After a five-year absence, Beachler is back and looking to guide Nevada out of its four-year funk, in which the Tigers won just 13 games under former head coach Erik Yoakam, now the defensive coordinator at Neosho High School.
As Yoakam’s predecessor, Beachler led the Tiger football program to its most successful two-year run in recent memory, compiling a 14-7 record over the course of the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The following year Beachler departed to coach Republic High School, where he has spent the past four seasons.
Beachler, however, has earned a reputation for turning around programs. The 25-year coaching veteran’s head coaching stops include Parkview High, where he inherited a complete rebuild, helping that program snap a 58-game losing skid. He also engineered a quick turnaround at Houston (Mo.) H.S., guiding a program that had fallen on hard times to multiple appearances in the state semifinals.
At Republic Beachler recorded two winning seasons in the ultra-competitive Central Ozark Conference. He will now be looking to orchestrate a similar turnaround in Nevada, as the Tigers embark on their final season in the West Central Conference.
Game preview
Nevada’s season-opener is slated for 7 p.m. tonight, a non-conference road game with Seneca High School. Nevada opened its 2016 slate with a 41-14 home loss to Seneca.
“The number one priority right now is to see where we’re at, and to see improvement each week,” Beachler told the Daily Mail prior to Wednesday’s practice. “Weeks one and two are still evaluation periods; looking at what we’re good at and where we lack. Did we make the right choices personnel-wise? Who’s playing well on Friday night under the lights and those kinds of things. Once we get that figured out, then we can add wrinkles.”
Beachler continued: “In the state of Missouri, if you’re figuring things out weeks one, two and three, and you’re getting better in weeks four, five and six — you’ve got a chance to do some good things.”
Beachler said he’s not that familiar with Seneca, as the last time he coached against the Indians was during his first season in Nevada in 2011.
“Most Big 8 schools in that area down there are physical schools and run-oriented,” said Beachler. “There’s some Webb City background there (with the Seneca coaching staff) so I expect to see a 4-4 defense and a lot of veer-and-midline (a type of option offense).”
Beachler told the Daily Mail his offensive philosophy had previously centered around a double-wing attack, with the 2017 version featuring the senior trio of tailback Braxton Shadden, power fullback-running back Zach Gardner, and quarterback Braeden Hinton.
Beachler now utilizes the shotgun wing-formation, with a running back lined up next to Hinton and the fullback lined up behind the guard and tackle.
“We’re going to be physical and try to establish the run with a lot of misdirection and power football, and throw when the opportunity arises,” noted Beachler.
Beachler said that during his first stint at Nevada the Tigers averaged about six passes per game.
“Going out of the shotgun opened up our passing game a little bit (at Republic),” said Beachler. “We still didn’t throw a lot, but shotgun formation presented more of a threat to defenses.”
Added Beachler: “Braeden throws a nice ball in practice. And that’s something that will come with time, being able to add that dimension to our offense.”
While Beachler won’t be channeling Steve Spurrier with his offensive game-planning, he did say Hinton can get the ball downfield with ease.
“I think he throws the ball as well as any quarterback I’ve had in the last five to six years,” said Beachler. “My last three years at Republic, we had quarterbacks that ran the ball like fullbacks. It’s a pretty tough comparison. But Braeden can throw the ball and is an above-average runner.”
Beachler said that along with No. 1 tailback Shadden, Gardner and Justin Guy will also see time at the position.
“We have three (running backs) that have some different qualities and abilities that will make it tougher for defenses to deal with,” he said.
The offense also features tight end Hunter Mason, who last month verbally committed to NCAA Division I Western Illinois.
“We’ll split him out some in different formations,” said Beachler. “I think Hunter’s best position is linebacker. He’s playing real well at outside linebacker right now.”
On the other side of the ball, Beachler prefers a 4-3 defensive scheme.
“We’re gap control,” he said. “We’re not going to do a lot of blitzing; we’re going to try to play sound defense and make offenses earn yards. And we’re not going to be doing any crazy blitz schemes that give up big plays. We’re going to try to be consistent in what we do. We’re going to try be gap-sound and have great technique.”
Beachler said his defensive backfield, led by Shadden at strong safety, has depth.
“We have about six kids back there we can rotate that will be pretty solid,” he said, adding, “Braxton is a Nevada kid. He’s tough and he’s football-smart.”
Other returnees include senior offensive linemen Alec Baker, Trevor Olsen, Jordan Peckman and Keaton Brockmeyer. The linebacker core is strong for the Tigers, headlined by Gardner, Mason and Shawn Thornburg. The defensive line is likely to be anchored by Baker, Peyton Denney, Treyten Fleeman and junior Caleb Longabardi.
Along with Shadden in the backfield is senior Shelby Trotter, who is also Nevada’s top downfield threat at wide receiver.
“We’re going to play hard from snap-to-whistle,” Beachler said of the expectations he has for his squad. “We’re going to be disciplined and do things the right way. We’re going to play hard and physical, and play to win.”
Seneca outlook
Led by second-year head coach Ryan McFarland, the Indians finished 3-7 a year ago. Seneca’s key returning players include: junior quarterback/free safety Gavin Clouse; senior running back/strong safety Cole Hatfield; tight-end/defensive end Gavin Dunham; and defensive back Dawson Stephens.
“The biggest thing for Gavin is that he’s had a year in our offense,” noted McFarland of Clouse, who was the starting quarterback last season as a sophomore.”
Seneca runs a triple-option offense.
“Gavin understands what we’re trying to do, and this year he’s going to have a lot more responsibility, and help to put us in situations that will give our offense a chance to be successful,” said McFarland.
The Indians lost 15 players from last year’s squad, but have a robust 68-man roster.
“We’re going to be pretty young,” said McFarland. “We have a lot of sophomores and juniors who will be starting. Right now, we’re trying to keep everything simple.”
McFarland has a winning pedigree, having played for Webb City and then spending a decade as an assistant coach at the school. McFarland, who played outside linebacker and wide receiver, was a member of the Cardinals state championship team his senior season, while collecting six more state titles as an assistant on John Roderique’s staff.
“One of the biggest things I learned from coach Roderique, that I didn’t realize at the time, is program management,” said McFarland. “The key to having a successful program is building relationships with kids. It’s more about those relationships with the kids than the Xs and Os that you’re tying to do. That’s something we try hard to incorporate in our program, and I think it’s working because our numbers have gone up the past two years.”
Added McFarland: “Playing for coach Rodrique, and then working with him for so long, I tried to absorb as much knowledge as I could. We try to do a lot of things that (Webb) does, but we also try to incorporate some of our own stuff, and some of my own beliefs that I’ve picked up from other places.”
McFarland said he feels prepared going into tonight’s match-up.
“The edge that (Nevada) has is that when you’re a first-year coach at a school there’s a lot of unknowns,” said McFarland. ‘We know they’re going to be fundamentally sound and that coach Beachler team’s are going to play hard.”
NHS schedule
(Home games in bold)
• Aug. 18: Seneca, 7
• Aug. 25: KC Center, 7
• Sept. 1: St. Pius X
• Sept. 8: St. Michael the Archangel, 7
• Sept. 15: Smith-Cotton, 7
• Sept. 22: Springfield Central, 7
• Sept. 29: DeSoto (Kan.), 7
• Oct. 6: Warrensburg, 7
* Oct. 13: Clinton, 7