By Steve Wilaj

sports@vindy.com

NEW MIDDLETOWN

On Friday night at Springfield High, it seemed anywhere you looked, at any moment, United’s Garrett Beech was making a play.

At quarterback, he threw for 120 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 90 yards and a score. Beech also played his fair share of defensive snaps at cornerback. Oh yeah, the Golden Eagles’ junior can punt, too. Beech placed two punts inside the 10-yard line and one inside the 20.

In the end, all of his contributions added up to a 24-21 United win against Springfield.

“We really think he’s coming into his own,” United coach Mike Ward said of Beech. “He’s a great runner, a great passer, and he’s an even better teammate. His team, as you could see, rallies around him.”

The Beech showcase began early when he hooked up with Braden Davison on a 76-yard TD pass to give the Golden Eagles (3-1) an early 7-0 lead.

United then received a gift-wrapped scoring opportunity at the end of the first half. Springfield quarterback, Hunter Snyder, fumbled a snap that was recovered by the Golden Eagles at Springfield’s 10-yard line.

“When you turn the ball over, especially inside the 15, that’s a huge negative for our football team,” Tigers coach Sean Guerriero said.

Though it seemed United would squander the chance after losing nine yards to set up a fourth and 19, senior kicker Cole Weikart salvaged the drive. Weikart’s 36-yard field goal attempt had just enough strength, bouncing off the crossbar and through to give the Golden Eagles a 10-0 halftime lead.

“Look at the scoreboard and that’s the difference in the game,” Ward said. “That was huge. Football’s like that. Little thing add up to big things.”

The Tigers (1-3) fought back, though, scoring on their opening second half possession to cut the lead to 10-7 on a 13-yard Snyder TD run. After a Beech TD pass to Jared Powell to begin the fourth quarter, the Tigers cut into the lead again, 17-14, with another Snyder TD run.

Snyder, in fact, wasn’t far behind Beech’s performance. The sophomore quarterback threw for 138 yards and a score, while rushing for 88 yards and two TDs.

Still, this night belonged to Beech and United. The Golden Eagles final touchdown with 56 seconds left put the nail in the coffin, extending the lead to 24-14.

“We knew it would be a hard game and very competitive,” Ward said. “I was very proud of my team.”

Like it did all night, Springfield answered with 16 seconds left to make it 24-21 when Snyder found Anthony Scandy for 26 yards.