Beechcroft, Northland football teams see more success ahead in 2023
Since the closing of Brookhaven at the end of the 2013-14 school year, almost every football season has seen Beechcroft or Northland end up on top of the City League-North Division — and sometimes it has been both.
The Cougars won outright titles each year from 2014-16 as well as in 2021 and shared it with Mifflin and Northland in 2017, and the Vikings won the outright championship in 2018. Centennial finished first in 2019.
This fall, Beechcroft and Northland shared the league title with East at 5-1, and there are indicators that things might not change much next year.
While East has one of the area’s top sophomores in running back Taizaun Burns and was the only City team to win a postseason game, both Beechcroft and Northland should have enough returning talent to stay in the title hunt.
The Vikings snapped a three-game losing streak against Beechcroft with a 12-7 victory Oct. 22 to close the regular season.
That win also gave Northland the 13th seed for the Division II, Region 7 playoffs. It lost in the first round 38-6 to fourth-seeded Watkins Memorial on Oct. 28 to finish 5-5 overall.
That finish came despite the Vikings losing four of their first six games, including falling 18-6 to East on Sept. 29.
“It was hard at the beginning of the year taking a few on the chin, but I told our guys that if we stayed together that we were going to (have a chance to win the league),” Northland coach Ryan Sayers said.
The Vikings again should be led next season by Amir Brown, a junior running back who rushed for 1,141 yards and 11 touchdowns despite missing parts of three games because of injury.
Junior Bry’Neil Jones, who had 25 pancake blocks, was honorable mention all-district as a two-way lineman.
The other first-team all-district honoree was senior running back/wide receiver Mekhi Kilburn, who finished with 1,190 all-purpose yards and scored nine touchdowns.
Senior Gentry Ross (WR/DL), who had 75 tackles, 18 sacks and 22 tackles for loss, was second-team all-district. Senior Jordan Blankson (OL/DL) was special mention all-district after recording 12 sacks and 14 tackles for loss.
Senior two-way lineman Brenden Clayborn, who had 28 pancake blocks, was honorable mention all-district.
Junior Kevin Bell (OL/LB) was special mention all-district after tallying 61 tackles, five sacks and 15 tackles for loss.
Quarterback Terryn Thomas led a sophomore class that also included Malakai Hammond (OL/DL), Tyreek Lewis (RB/DL), Justin Ofori (OL/DL) and Quavion Porter (TE/DB).
“It was our killer instinct (that sustained us),” Blankson said.
Beechcroft was the 12th seed for the Division III, Region 11 playoffs and lost at fifth-seeded Bloom-Carroll 48-0 in a first-round game Oct. 28 to finish 6-4 overall.
In between losing its first two and its last two, the Cougars gave up just 18 points during a six-game winning streak.
Among the biggest reasons for optimism is Beechcroft is eligible to return junior quarterback Aurelius Scott, a first-team all-district honoree who threw for more than 1,500 yards and 16 touchdowns and also rushed for five scores.
“I feel like we (had) great chemistry,” said Scott, who completed his second at quarterback for the Cougars. “I’ve just been hitting the weight room and studying the game, studying film and making more smart decisions.”
Senior Javontice Shull (LB), who had 19 sacks and two touchdowns on defense, was first-team all-district while classmates Jerome Killebrew (RB/LB) and Armand Vickers (OL/DL) were special/honorable mention all-district.
Senior Jayden Douglas (WR/DB), who scored 14 touchdowns, also was first-team all-district and senior DeShawn Henderson (RB/WR/QB) was another key contributor.
Sophomore Tyrell Russell (WR/DB) also was special/honorable mention all-district.
Others eligible to return include sophomore Khalil Samuel (WR/DB) and freshman Jaymir Radford (WR/DB).
“We have a lot of weapons,” coach Humphrey Simmons said. “(We were) not one-dimensional and (we had) six guys who can get the ball.”
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BEECHCROFT FOOTBALL
•Record: 6-4 overall
•City-North standings: Beechcroft, East and Northland (all 5-1), Whetstone (3-3), Linden-McKinley (2-4), Centennial (1-5), Mifflin (0-6)
•Seniors lost: Abraham Bangura, Mamadou Camara, Jayden Douglas, Hayden Entingh, DeShawn Henderson, Jerome Killebrew, Elijah Otchee-Boakye, Joel Owusu, Jaylen Radford, Javontice Shull and Armand Vickers
•Key returnees: Rosean Burns, Tyrell Russell, Khalil Samuel and Aurelius Scott
•Postseason: Lost to Bloom-Carroll 48-0 in first round of Division III, Region 11 playoffs
NORTHLAND FOOTBALL
•Record: 5-5 overall
•Seniors lost: Jordan Blankson, Javier Camarillo Ceja, Brenden Clayborn, Marquez Clifford, Mekhi Kilburn, Gentry Ross and Kwabena Yeboah
•Key returnees: Kevin Bell, Amir Brown, Bry’Neil Jones, Tyreek Lewis, Quavion Porter and Terryn Thomas
•Postseason: Lost to Watkins Memorial 38-6 in first round of Division II, Region 7 playoffs
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Beechcroft, Northland football see more success ahead in 2023
