2011 Prep Football Preview: Lindbergh Flyers

Even with back-to-back Suburban West Conference championships on its résumé, Lindbergh High football coach Tom Beauchamp refuses to let his 2011 club bask in the glow of the program’s past glory.

Instead, Beauchamp insists that every one of his Flyer teams develop its own identity and credit its own legacy based on its own success.

“First thing I say to them is, 'You aren’t last year, and you aren’t two years ago,'” Beauchamp said. “That was a different team that accomplished those things and won those championships. These guys have to make their own name. They have to be ready to play on their own.”

The 2011 Flyers will be hard-pressed to top the accomplishments of the ’09 and ’10 teams, which went 10-1 and 9-3, respectively.

But Beauchamp believes the group he’s got this year is capable of doing so.

“I’m really excited about this group,” Beauchamp said. “We’ve got 31 seniors coming back. So we’re really kind of able to reload and go after it again.”

Back to lead the Flyers on the field this year is senior quarterback Peter Simpson, a second team All-Suburban West selection last year after he led the league in passing with 2,219 yards and 19 touchdown passes.

Beauchamp said the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Simpson, who’s already receiving interest from several Division II colleges around the country, could earn himself a Division I scholarship offer with another big season.

“Having a senior like him back at quarterback is always a nice plus,” Beauchamp said. “Whenever you have that, you can always build around that. And having him here all summer to work with is very nice. I wish we could do that every year. But unfortunately, they have to graduate.”  

Simpson’s favorite two targets in 2010, all-conference players Adam Schremp and Will Spitzfaden, both graduated last year, which left the Suburban West’s top quarterback with an all new group of receivers to throw to this year.

Among that group of new Lindbergh wideouts is the coach’s son, Blake Beauchamp, and fellow seniors Connor Jones and Ryan Woodland.

In the backfield, senior tailbacks Grant Krueger and Jordan Goodman are expected to get the most carries behind an offensive line that will be anchored by seniors Sam Rohr, Kevin Amstutz, Ryan Garber and John Thomas.   

The Lindbergh defense, which graduated both the 2010 Suburban West Defensive Player of the Year (linebacker Sam Smith) and the 2009 league defensive MVP (end Tony Robinson) will be keyed by its own second-team all-conference player in senior Chris Kew.

Last year, despite having two Division I-caliber ends dominating play in front of him, the 5-foot-9, 170-pound Kew led the Flyers and the entire conference with 83 solo tackles and was nearly the league leader with an overall 113 total stops.

“He’s a real physical kid,” Beauchamp said. “He just loves to play, and we need him to step up and be our leader on ‘D’ this year.”

Kew will be joined in the Flyers linebacking corps by two-way standouts Jones and Blake Beauchamp, while Amstutz, Rohr and Thomas figure to be among the rotation used on the Flyers’ defensive line.

Lindbergh’s defensive secondary could be one of the area’s best with Woodland, senior David Miller, and all-conference sophomore Garrett Krueger back to defend the pass.

“We’ve got some neat possibilities with this team,” Beauchamp said. “If we can stay injury-free and gel well together, I think we’re pretty talented and we’ll be able to get some things done in the conference and in districts this year.”  

The Flyers will begin defense of their consecutive league titles on the road at Oakville High on Friday.

Lindbergh’s first home game of 2011 will be at 7 p.m. Sept. 2, when the Flyers host rival Lafayette High at Flyers Field.