Wapakoneta’s Kaden Page receives the snap from center as Kyle Beach gets ready to attempt an extra-point kick during Friday night’s game at Ottawa-Glandorf.
Jessica Trinko | The Lima News
WAPAKONETA – The kickoff return can be the most exciting play in high school football for the team returning the ball, with such potential for a long run back.
That’s unless you’re facing Wapakoneta’s Kyle Beach. Then, it’s almost a ho-hum experience, as the 5-foot-8, 145-pound senior kicker routinely boots the ball out of the back of the end zone.
“With a kicker who can kick it out of the end zone, what a weapon,” said Ottawa-Glandorf coach Ken Schriner, whose team witnessed Beach’s boot strength in last week’s loss to the Redskins. “You know, he’s a special player, and I wish he was on our sideline. To start at the 20 every time is a struggle.”
Beach didn’t start playing football until his sophomore year, but he quickly fell in love with kicking. In addition to kickoffs, he hasn’t missed an extra point yet this year, hitting 10 of 10 through three games, including all six attempts last week.
This year, he also hit 4 of 6 field goals, including a pair of 37-yarders. Last season, Beach hit a school-record 51-yard field goal on his way to being selected the Western Buckeye League’s kicker of the year.
“I’ve trained a lot this offseason on the ball speed and my leg speed,” Beach said. “That’s how I’m getting the ball that far and helping the team now.”
Beach also serves as the punter for Wapakoneta.
Those kickoffs are a sight for anyone watching the game, wondering if he can get the kickoff through the uprights or through the back of the end zone on any particular boot.
“Obviously he has the ability to change the course of field position,” Wapakoneta coach Travis Moyer said. “It’s critical. We need him to be really good for us. Obviously, he’s a special talent.”
That talent drew the eye of college coaches. He’s visited with several college teams, but he hopes to receive an offer at Division I Bowling Green State University, Beach said.
“In this past offseason, I kind of traveled around to a bunch of camps and realized that, OK, I can do this,” Beach said. “We’ve made a couple of recruiting trips. That can be an exciting process.”
First, though, some business must be taken care of on football fields throughout the region. While there may be a reputation of kickers as outsiders, Beach said he’s been accepted as an integral part of the team from the start.
“I mean, it’s a brotherhood here,” he said. “We all accept each other.”
David Trinko wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima New sports department at 567-242-0451.
