The NKyTribune will be offering focused coverage of NKY high school football throughout the season, thanks to support from St. Elizabeth Healthcare Sports Medicine. See all our pre-season features on each of NKY’s 21 high school football teams and follow our coverage, including roundups each week at Northern Kentucky High School Football.
By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Brett Slusher’s two older brothers played on state championship football teams at Beechwood. He has one season left to carry on that family tradition, but there’s another reason the senior wants to see it all end with a victory in the Class 1A title game in December.
Slusher was voted one of the four senior captains by his teammates and that’s the biggest motivating factor of all in his mind.
“I feel great that I’m one of the four to lead the team this year,” he said. “Coach (Noel Rash) said it’s really important that our team votes for the guys they want to be the captains when things start getting tough in games. It’s a great thing and I’m glad to be a captain for this team.”
Slusher will be a two-way starter at wide receiver and outside linebacker for the Tigers once again this season. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior will also return kickoffs and punts on special teams.
Coach Rash doesn’t keep individual defensive statistics, but he said having Slusher at outside linebacker was a big reason the Tigers limited opponents to 228 yards and 15.9 points per game during the 2014 regular season.
Slusher also put up some nice numbers on offense and special teams as a junior. In 10 regular season games, he caught 18 passes for 443 yards and four touchdowns. He also had 242 yards in returns and 42 yards rushing for a total of 714 all-purpose yards.
“I’d say he ranks up there with the best to come through (Beechwood) as far as athletic ability and play-making ability and importance to the team,” Rash said.
Slusher’s two older brothers, Brady and Brandon, would also be on the list of exceptional players to come through the Beechwood football program, according to the longtime coach.
“There’s a talent level in that family that’s really high,” Rash said. “Obviously, it’s a good gene pool. But the big thing is they all play for the right reasons, they play for the team, and they’re all extremely intelligent players. When you put all that together, it’s hard not to be really good.”
Slusher’s role on offense will be expanded this season. Rash wouldn’t give any details, but the senior said he has been lining up in different positions during practice sessions.
“We’ve been working with different stuff on the perimeter where I’m at wide receiver and they’ve also had me in at running back, so it looks like we’re going to be doing a variety of things this year,” Slusher said.
The Tigers used Joe Studer as a multi-purpose player on offense last season, but he was among the senior starters who graduated. If the coaches want Slusher to step into that role this season, he’s more than willing to do it.
“I feel great about it,” he said. “It just gives me a chance to get more involved in the game and help us get some wins. I’m extremely excited to be doing that this year.”
The last time Beechwood won a Class 1A state title was 2008 when Slusher was in the fifth grade. In the three years that he has been a player in the program, the Tigers have never made it past the semifinals in the Class 1A state playoffs. To end the long wait for another state title, Slusher said the team has adopted a new mindset for this season.
“We used to focus so much on getting to the big game that we let games along the road get away from us,” he said. “So we started adopting the theme of winning today and playing every game like it’s a state championship. That seems like it’s going to work out better for us.”
BEECHWOOD TIGERS
2014 SEASON: 11-3 record, lost in semifinals of Class 1A state playoffs.
THIS SEASON: Class 1A, District 4 with Bellevue, Dayton Ludlow.
COACH: Noel Rash (95-30 in nine seasons at Beechwood).
2015 SCHEDULE
Aug. 28 – at Lloyd, 7 p.m.
Sept. 4 – at Somerset, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 11 – at Ironton (Ohio), 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 18 – COVINGTON CATHOLIC, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 25 – HOLY CROSS, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 2 – NEWPORT, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 9 – at Bellevue, 7 p.m.
Oct. 16 – LUDLOW, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 23 – DAYTON, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 30 – NEWPORT CENTRAL CATHOLIC, 7:30 p.m.
See these NKyTribune prep football previews:
Bishop Brossart
Ludlow
Campbell County
Highlands
Dixie Heights
Bellevue
Newport
NewCath
Conner
Covington Catholic
Holmes
Dayton
Ryle
Scott
Walton-Verona