Times-Georgian Offensive Player of the Year: Aaron Beasley

Courtesy of Mason Wittner and the Times-Georgian

(Franklin, GA) — Aaron Beasley made no significant changes to his preseason routine entering his final year of high school football. The Heard County High School senior says he trained and worked on perfecting his craft, just as he has has every offseason since he first began playing.

But his dedication to continuously working on the details and putting in effort to better himself on a daily basis paid dividends this season as the 2018 Times-Georgian Offensive Player of the year put the Heard County offense on his back and helped lead them to their first state championship in program history.

One week after rushing for 147 yards on 31 carries in the Braves’ 27-6 victory over Rockmart High School in the Class AA state championship game, Beasley was still trying to comprehend the accomplishment he and his teammates had achieved in his final season.

When asked about the emotions he felt waking up the day after the game and realizing he was a state champion, the University of Tennessee signee smiled and expressed his believe that it was culmination of the hard work he and his teammates had put in week in and week out over the past four years he’s donned a Heard County uniform.

“It felt good just to know that all the hard work we put in over the summer and over the years finally paid off with a state championship,” Beasley said. “It’s a blessing to be able to get to that point and get a ring. Being named Offensive Player of the Year is another blessing as well. All the hard work I put in to get to this point has all paid off.”

Beasley carried much of the load for the Braves’ offense on the way to securing the championship. He averaged just over 130 yards per game throughout the regular season and playoffs, finishing his senior campaign with 1,964 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns on 293 carries.

Aaron Beasley (Photo: Jeff Napier)

Before breaking the century mark and finding the end zone twice against Rockmart in the title game, Beasley played a special role in helping Heard County make it to Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The Braves hosted Fitzgerald High School at Staples Stadium in the Class AA state semifinals on Nov. 30.

They had made it to the semifinals in 2017 as well, and it’s a game that stuck with Beasley for all the wrong reasons as he committed a late turnover in a loss to eventual state champion Hapeville Charter.

But he managed to find redemption this go around against Fitzgerald, scoring a pair of rushing touchdowns in regulation before finding the end zone on the ground on the first play of overtime to lead his team to a thrilling 38-30 victory over the Purple Hurricane.

That game was just one of many moments throughout the 2018 campaign in which Beasley took over on the ground, lowering his head and bulldozing opposing defenses to help the Braves’ establish a healthy run game and out-physical their opponents on a weekly basis.

But when pressed about his individual moments and accolades from his senior year and high school career as a whole, Beasley graciously shifts the focus to his coaching staff and teammates.

He’s extremely grateful for being voted the 2018 Offensive Player of the Year, but believes it’s simply a product of being one cog in the well-oiled machine at Heard County.

“I love football and I’m a team guy, so I’m always going to do whatever I can to help us get the win,” Beasley said. “It doesn’t matter about stats, it doesn’t matter about any of that. I’m going to do anything for the team so we can win.”