FORT MITCHELL — As Beechwood's head football coach, Mike Yeagle has preached that defense wins championships.

        Bellevue must believe it after Friday's Class A district game. Beechwood allowed just 120 yards to win the battle of Tigers, 10-0, at Edgar McNab Field.

        “Really, our defense is a bunch of no-name kids, and that's the way they want it,” Yeagle said.

        The defending Class A state champions won their 45th straight home game and recorded their second straight shutout. Bellevue gained 112 yards rushing and 8 passing.

        “The only stat that matters to us is that zero,” Yeagle said. “I thought our defense handled a lot of bad situations real well, too ... Like I told our kids in the locker room, we got what we needed.”

        Senior defensive back Kyle Boyle, who had two sacks, graded the game a “B.”

        “Our offense struggled a little bit, but when it came crunch time, they got it done.”

        As pleased as Yeagle was with the defense, he was concerned about everything else. Beechwood gained 202 yards.

        “We made key mistakes on special teams,” Yeagle said. “And our offensive power running game, which we've lived on over here,

        we're going to have to find it.”

        Beechwood senior quarterback Mike Nie's 2-yard touchdown with 2:17 left in the third quarter ended the scoring.

        “They handled everybody, because they're a great defense,” Bellevue coach Charlie Coleman said.

        When Beechwood junior kicker Ryan Arlinghaus hit a 26-yard field goal with 1:41 left in the first half, it ended a half full of errors.

        Both Beechwood and Bellevue spent much of the first half playing good defense and stopping their own drives.

        The mistakes started with Bellevue's first possession. A pair of illegal procedure calls halted a drive at the Bellevue 30.

        “We kind of self-destructed there,” Coleman said. “Penalties are part of the game; that's the way it goes.”

        On the ensuing drive, it was Beechwood's turn to mess up. Three plays and out; a facemask call on Bellevue's punt return and Beechwood's P.J. Biddle running into Bellevue punter Mike Gullett after the snap went over Gullett's head.

        Yeagle is not thinking about seeing Bellevue in the playoffs yet; he's just glad to be 7-0.

        “It's the (win) we needed,” Yeagle said. “But we've got to get better; we know it.”

        Bellevue ....... 0 0 0 0- 0

        Beechwood ....... 0 3 7 0-10

        Beechwood-Arlinghaus 26 field goal

        Beechwood-Nie 2 run (Arlinghaus kick)

        Records: Bellevue 6-1 (1-1 Class A, Region 3, District 5), Beechwood 7-0 (2-0).

Complete prep football coverage at Enquirer.com/prepfootball

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