Photo by Rick Thompson

Trever Beach’s transition from soccer to a football kicker is a familiar one, but that’s where the similarities end.

Beach, a senior for Humboldt, is one of the top field goal kickers in the state, but the 5-8, 160 pounder is much more than that.

On the football field, Beach is a key ingredient in all three facets of the game for head coach Derrick Elman. In fact he is one of the leaders in all three categories.

“I think the thing about Trever that makes what he does special, is he is able to stay clutch while playing offense and defense,” Elman said. “Trever works really hard while out on the field, and does all the kicking.

“There’s something to be said about being mentally tough. He has to be able to play both ways and kick. Kicking field goals is a tough job, and it sure helps to have a great snapper (Parker Sleiter), and holder (Coen Matson).”The ability to kick on the soccer field translates well to the gridiron and that’s where it started.

“Coaches told me to kick because I played soccer,” Beach said. “Having that relation with soccer and kicking made the transfer easy.”

On the pitch Beach has six goals in the past two seasons and since stepping on the football field, he has worked at his craft.

“My sophomore summer I started going to kicking camps with Kicking World,” Beach said. “Coaches at the camp really helped with technique and accuracy. I started kicking in the YSF league, and since then I’ve stuck with it.”

That work has been a big push for Beach, who waited his turn.

“Trever has shown the ability to kick his whole high school career,” Elman said. “As a sophomore, he sat behind Max Mason who was also a pretty good kicker.”

Beach’s accuracy and leg has helped the Wildcats’ enhance their kicking game.

“Kicking for Humboldt is special because the coaches give me an opportunity to go and kick,” Beach said.

He is tied in Class 3A with seven field goals made and leads the Class in accuracy, making every kick. His seven makes are fourth best in the state of Iowa.

“When kicking a lot of pressure is taken off with having a good long snapper (Parker Sleiter) and holder, (Coen Matson)” Beach said. “PAT’s and field goals are mostly the same, but when kicking a field goal there is a little more pressure since it’s worth more points and usually a little deeper.”

Beach’s 42-yard field goal is the second longest in the Class behind Hampton-Dumont-CAL’s Tucker Heeren (43). Beach has also made a 40-yard attempt. He is also 24-for-26 on extra points. He is 9-for-12 on field goals in his career and 76 of 87 on PATs. He has three 40-plus kicks with two career high boots of 42.

“The summer of 2021, he started kicking more, and that year in practice, it was evident he had the ability to field goals pretty consistently,” Elman said. “The moment we really felt he had come into his own as a kicker was playing at North Polk. Trever hit a 42 yarder as time in the first half expired.”

When he’s not kicking for the Wildcats, he is one of the top targets at wide receiver. He has 15 catches for 271 yards and two touchdowns for 18.1 yards per catch.

On defense, he leads Class 3A in interceptions with five (fourth in the state) and is the fourth leading tackler with 36.5 and three and a half tackles for loss.

“Kicking while playing offense and defense makes you a little tired and is hard sometimes,” Beach said. “But our strength and conditioning coach (Trevor Deliman) does a nice job of keeping us in shape and putting in quality work through the off season and season.”

The Wildcats, who were state semifinalists a year ago, begin their playoff trek on Friday against Hampton-Dumont-CAL.

“This year, it’s been awesome knowing that if we get the ball inside the 30 we can take a shot at a field goal,” Elman said. “Since I started here in 2018, we’ve been pretty consistent at the kicking position.

“Knowing you can get points from a kicker sure makes you feel pretty good in the red zone.”