Canton South football stuns Triway as freshman steps up on Poochie Snyder's historic night

SHREVE — Brodee Beegle's varsity football résumé before Friday consisted of one snap.

All it took was one snap for the Canton South freshman to help make the loss of a Stark County icon a little easier to bear.

Beegle's 69-yard touchdown pass to Tre Wilson with 2:30 left helped the Wildcats stun Triway 35-28 and preserve South's unbeaten record.

The last place Beegle expected to be was behind center with the game tied late in the fourth quarter. This was supposed to be the night to celebrate starting quarterback Poochie Snyder's historic milestone. Snyder's touchdown pass to Wilson in the second quarter helped him break the county record for career passing yards.

An injury to Snyder's throwing hand late in the first half suddenly thrust Beegle into uncharted territory. After three straight touchdown passes from Brayden Holt to Brody Snyder helped Triway tie it at 28-28, the spotlight was brighter than ever.

Beegle never flinched.

"I was like 'This is on me. I'm a freshman, but I gotta do this,'" Beegle said. "I just had to trust my guys."

Wilson is a receiver who can be fully trusted. He flew open downfield, caught Beegle's sixth pass of the game and raced into the end zone.

"I saw him throw it and thought it might be a little short," Wilson said. "I turned, and he still led me to where I could turn my feet and still scored."

"That was a good ball. Him coming as a freshman and doing it, I'm proud of him."

Beegle's thoughts when he saw Wilson take off for the races after the ball landed in his hands?

"As soon as I saw him score, all the relief came off," Beegle said. "I was so excited."

Beegle finished 4-of-6 passing for 83 yards. The Wildcats played it conservative with him until it was time to strike.

"We were waiting for that play, waiting for that moment," South head coach Matt Dennison said. "We thought we'd get that. They gave us man (coverage) because they were loading the box trying to stop the run."

Snyder completed his pursuit of history in style with 4:59 left in the second quarter. His 73-yard touchdown pass to Wilson broke the county record of 9,181 career passing yards held by Sandy Valley's Cameron Blair, who now plays at Ashland University. It also put the Wildcats ahead 28-7

The big emotional swing for Snyder and the Wildcats came shortly afterward. Late in the first half, he injured his throwing hand while running a quarterback draw. Snyder ran off the field holding his hand after he came up short of the end zone. Dennison said after the game he had been taken to a hospital to have the injury treated.

It was an emotional blow the Wildcats regrouped from.

"We just came together as a team," said Wilson, who finished with three catches for 146 yards. "When people's heads were down, we lifted them up. We came together as a group, went down the field, grinded and scored."

Snyder was 13-of-18 for 213 yards in the first half. He also threw two TD passes to Tavon Castle.

Snyder now sits at 9,264 yards passing. The Wildcats hope he can eventually put more distance between himself and the rest of the field

"We're proud of everything he has done with us," Dennison said.

Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com

On X: @mpopovichREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton South football regroups after losing Poochie Snyder to injury