By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Bellevue’s football team will play its first home game of the season Friday on the new synthetic turf at Gilligan Field that’s part of an $8.4 million project to upgrade the school district’s athletic facilities.
The Tigers had their first practice session on the field Monday and coach Chad Montgomery reminded his players they can make history when they take on St. Henry at 7 p.m. Friday.
“We’ve tried to make a big deal out it,” the coach said. “I told our guys they were the last ones to walk off the old field with a win last year and they have a chance to be the first team to win on the new one. That’s not an opportunity everybody gets.”
The new field is the next chapter in the Bellevue football program’s comeback story.
Three years ago, the Tigers finished 0-9 and had to forfeit their last two games because they didn’t have enough varsity-level players due to injuries.
Montgomery, a former Bellevue player, took charge of the program after that. His teams finished the 4-7 and 5-5 the last two seasons with expanded rosters.
Bellevue is off to an 1-2 start this season and has three consecutive home games beginning with St. Henry, a first-year varsity football program that lost its first three games by margins of 47, 34 and 52 points.
“The scores don’t reflect how they’re playing,” Montgomery said of the Crusaders. “They’ve given up big chunk plays here and there. That’s kind of been their Achilles heel. But they play hard and play aggressive. They fly around on defense and on offense they run a thousand formations and spread you out and make you prepare for everything.”
Bellevue opened the season with a win over Trimble County, but injuries have played a role in the team’s back-to-back losses to Nicholas County and Pendleton County. Montgomery said the Tigers played without three or four starters in each game.
Starting quarterback Steve Specht, who went down with knee injury in the second game, returned to practice on Monday. That means senior Tristan Woodyard can return to running back. He’s the team’s leading rusher with 279 yards and four touchdowns.
Bellevue football teams have been playing home games on Gilligan Field since 1936. Montgomery said the upgrade hasn’t been completed so it might be a little inconvenient for fans on Friday, but he’s looking forward to the game.
“There’s a lot of things that need to be done (at the field) the next few days, but we’re playing there and we’ll just go with what we’ve got,” Montgomery said.
Beechwood is top team in All “A” Classic volleyball
The latest state rankings posted by the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association has Beechwood at No. 15 and Louisville Holy Cross at No. 18.
They are the only ranked teams in the All “A” Classic state volleyball tournament and they’ll face each other in a pool play match on Friday at the Owensboro Convention Center.
Beechwood won the 9th Region All “A” Classic to earn a berth in the small school state tournament for the first time since 2015. Holy Cross, the 6th Region champion, made it to the state final last year.
St. Henry won the last two All “A” Classic state volleyball tournaments, but the Crusaders did not compete in this year’s playoffs.
Beechwood enters this week with a 9-1 record that includes a 3-0 win over Brossart (8-3), who qualified for the All “A” Classic state tournament as the 10th Region champion for the 17th time in 18 years.
There are four teams in each of the four pools. Brossart is in Pool A and Beechwood is in Pool B. The winner and runner-up in each pool will advance to the single-elimination championship bracket on Saturday. The other two teams in each pool will compete in the bronze medal bracket on Saturday.
Notre Dame grads playing in volleyball showdown
Notre Dame graduates Emma Grace and Sydney Nolan are the leading hitters on the Xavier and Cincinnati women’s volleyball teams going into their annual Queen City Showdown match at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the UC Fifth Third Arena.
Grace, a redshirt senior for 6-0 Xavier, has 86 kills in 23 sets for a 3.74 average and .236 attack percentage. The 5-foot-10 outside hitter was named most valuable player in the Xavier Invitational last weekend after getting a double-double in kills and digs in all three matches.
Cincinnati is off to a 4-1 start and Nolan has 94 kills in 19 sets for a 4.95 average and .313 attack percentage. The 6-foot-4 junior outside hitter was named most valuable player in the Chattanooga Classic last weekend after getting 16, 20 and 17 kills in the Bearcats’ three victories.
The other Notre Dame graduate on Cincinnati’s team is junior libero Kayla Hostetler. The freshmen on Xavier’s roster include libero Julia Grace and outside hitter Ava Tilden, who graduated from Notre Dame last spring.