STJ-TPS: Trojans, Wildcats matchup feels like 'Alabama-Auburn' game
St. James coach Jimmy Perry and Ethan Beard chat during the game between the Trojans and Montgomery Academy. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
When St. James meets Trinity at Ragsdale-Boykin Field on Friday night, the pair of arch rivals will be playing for the 3A Region 3 championship. For St. James senior Ethan Beard, both teams could be looking for their first win of the season and the game would be just as important.
“This is my favorite game of the year,” Beard said. “This is that game. It’s like Alabama-Auburn.”
And while there is plenty of talent on both sides of the ball, there’s no question that Trinity players will have to keep an eye on No. 2, the kick returner-punt returner-safety-receiver that rarely leaves the field.
“He was a slot (receiver) guy, then he turned out to be a pretty good cover corner,” St. James coach Jimmy Perry said. “Now, we’ve moved him to safety because he has such range and with the formations people are giving us, we bring our safeties into the box and he’s a great edge defender.
“So he’s evolved from just a wide receiver to a wide receiver and a defensive back, then to a safety. And he’s so dynamic in the open field, he’s our punt returner and our kick returner. He can do it all.”
He’s been excelling at football for the Trojans since the ninth grade, but has gradually added more and more responsibilities, which might be surprising for a guy that’s 5-foot-7, 140 pounds.
“I get told that I’m too small all the time,” Beard said. “Actually, during the Trinity game three years ago, I got tackled and they were telling me I was too small. After that, I caught a 70-yard pass so I had to get them back for that.”
By the next year, coaches approached Beard about playing on the defensive side of the ball, something that he was willing to try even though it didn’t sound too appealing.
“Coach talked to me, ‘How about you play some corner for us?’ I’m like, sure, I’ll try it out,” Beard recalled. “I’ve never really been fond of defense but I like tackling people. So, he put me at corner and recently I moved to safety. I love safety. It’s like I get a mix of tackling and covering people.
“Playing safety (against) alley runs -- when someone is running sideways and I meet them before they get to the line of scrimmage -- that’s my favorite. That’s more exciting than catching touchdown passes, in my opinion. But I love touchdowns. I love making big plays.”
So it was only natural to use Beard as a punt returner and kick returner. He’s also on kickoff coverage, which means he rarely leaves the field.
“He doesn’t get tired,” Perry said. “I think he loves to play as much as any kid I’ve ever seen. He loves the game.”
“I’d say my secret is Pedialyte,” Beard said. “All I drink is Pedialyte, water, Gatorade. I don’t drink any sodas. I feel like that gives me the power I need.”
As a receiver, Beards averages 24.6 yards per catch, pulling in 18 passes for 443 yards and six touchdowns. As a defender, he has 17 tackles (and more if you were to count his special teams tackles. He has returned three kickoffs for 39 yards, six punts for 119 yards and a touchdown and one interception for 69 yards and a touchdown.
“He’s a playmaker,” Perry said. “He makes things happen when the ball is in his hands. Somebody (as a college coach) is going to get a good one, that’s all I know.”
He averages 19.8 yards per punt return, but most teams choose to kick away from him, which is just fine with Beard.
“That kind of irks my nerves,” he said. “But actually, it’s less stressful to not catch a punt because there are so many possibilities of you fair catching it and you getting hit. As far as kickoffs, I want to feel the rush of running back a kick (for a touchdown). I haven’t done that yet.”
While he also excels in track, as a point guard on the basketball team and as a second baseman on the baseball team, his favorite sport will always be football
“I love football more than anything,” Beard said. “Basketball and baseball, they’re fun but you don’t get the adrenalin that you do for football.”
Beard said his senior season “has been going pretty smoothly,” although he didn’t expect to lose to 4A Handley and 5A Charles Henderson. As far as any personal goals, Beard can achieve them with a win at Trinity on Friday night.
“For rival games, my personal goal is to not lose to them,” he said. “As long as I do whatever I need to do to get the win.”