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Aiden Beadles named Putnam County Football Defensive Player of the Year
Learning under a pair of All-State football players paid dividends for South Putnam linebacker Aiden Beadles.
Having Parker Hacker and Matthew Goodpaster to learn from set Eagle junior up for success as a sophomore, only trailing Goodpaster by a few tackles on the season.
Taking charge of the defense in 2022, Beadles was a tackling machine, racking up double-digit tackles in all 10 games this season, setting a new school record with 100 solo tackles and adding 74 assists, including 18 tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
Beadles led the state of Indiana in total tackles for much of the season, only trailing a pair of players in John Purdy and Luke Wilhelm that had two additional postseason games on their ledger.
Keeping the South Putnam defense humming along at a high level earned Beadles the title of Putnam County Football Defensive Player of the Year, an award voted on by the Putnam County coaches.
Beadles got a strong taste of varsity action as a freshman as part of the 12-1 sectional championship squad in 2020.
“We had a lot of success freshman year, so the varsity was out by halftime and the JV was in the second half,” Beadles said. “I got a lot of playing time that way.
“I watched Matt since eighth grade when he was starting, so I aimed to do what he was doing as he was breaking records, being an All-State player and thought I should learn from him. He was doing really good things.”
After a sophomore season in which Beadles recorded 74 solo tackles and 47 assists next to Goodpaster, Beadles was expected to lead the Eagle defense in the graduating senior’s stead with a group that was primed to challenge in Class A again.
“I knew this year would be a big year,” Beadles said. “We had been looking at this year since we were in little league because we’ve had so many good players in this senior class.
“We started out this summer and kicked it into high gear. The coaches told me I would be in more of a leadership role this year and I was helping to keep people in line but most of it was still left to the seniors. They did a great job with it.”
While having a strong sophomore season, Beadles said his goal coming into the 2022 season was to supplant his mentor in the record books, knowing he would have to improve to do so.
“Matt had beaten some records and looking at those, I wanted to beat some of those and set some of my own,” Beadles said. “I also know I can always do better.
“I didn’t want to make sophomore year the best thing that ever happened to me because if I did that, I couldn’t look forward to what I wanted to do in the future.”
Changes in the South Putnam defensive scheme meant Beadles would be playing in an altered role from the previous year, though as the season went on, he was shifted back into his more familiar middle linebacker spot.
“At the beginning of the year, I was more of an outside linebacker and in more pass coverage,” Beadles said. “As the season progressed, the coaches saw I would be better on the inside.
“I wasn’t doing bad on the outside but they needed more inside. I moved back and that was the biggest change that happened this year.”
With Goodpaster graduating, a familiar face joined Beadles in the linebacker corps with Kolby Harcourt starting, a pairing that Beadles credited with keeping him sharp al season.
“I had played with Kolby as a freshman on JV and he has just as much as a passion and drive as I have,” Beadles said. “I knew with him moving inside with me, it was going to be a good year.
“He’s an overall really good player and he helped push me because he was doing big things too.”
The defensive changes took time to adjust to but Beadles said he and his teammates eventually got the hang of things.
“We had a lot of young players starting and we had the potential but we had to work more into it,” Beadles said. “Things had changed defensively; Matt wasn’t there anymore so I was put in charge of the defense.
“We were a little all over the place at the start but as the season progressed, we grew into it with the new starters that had been brought on. It was a good overall season.”
Getting off to a good start to the season was important and South Putnam did just that by handling Cloverdale in the season opener, a game that Beadles said helped reassure himself that he had the ability to play at a high level all his own.
“Starting off with Cloverdale, I felt good about the season but I also thought maybe I had been feeding off the success of Matt last year,” Beadles said. “Maybe I wasn’t all I thought I was.
“Cloverdale was the first test to get back out there and make sure I was doing what I needed to be doing. We went out there and it was so much fun, so natural and really set the precedence for how the season was going to go.”
A defeat against Owen Valley the following week was a reminder that there was still plenty to work on according to Beadles.
“We stepped out after prepping all week for the game but we weren’t where we needed to be,” Beadles said. “We needed to step it up in practice, in the weight room and we needed to learn from the experience.
“Owen Valley was a really good team and we needed to learn how to match their intensity as the season went on.”
A six-game win streak followed with Beadles saying the team rallied together after the loss to the Patriots.
“Things started off a little bumpy as we had people move in and some others moving around because others weren’t playing this year,” Beadles noted. “We started off a little rocky but we eventually began to gel and became more unified than we were last year.
“The next games went really well. The game with Greencastle is always going to be close no matter which team is good and we went out there ready to go. When we started taking control, it felt really good.
“The Heritage Christian game was a big one as we were predicted to lose,” Beadles added. “We weren’t feeling deflated by that; rather, we felt motivated because we knew where were better than what was predicted.
“It was a huge boost when we won that game because it wasn’t a close game. We took them around the block.”
Already facing 2A No. 1 Linton to close the regular season, South Putnam was handed a sectional opener against eventual state champions A No. 1 Lutheran.
While a tough close to the season, Beadles said the team did not cower from the challenge.
“When we got the draw, we already knew we had to play them at some point, so if we wanted to beat them, we might as well do it in the first round,” Beadles said. “It wasn’t a smack in the face to get us fired up but it was a motivator going into sectionals.”
After improving by nearly 50 tackles from his sophomore season and being named to the IFCA All-State Junior team for a second-straight season, Beadles said he felt his performance throughout the season was steady from start to finish.
“I felt I was pretty consistent throughout the year,” Beadles said. “The first few games were a little different, being on the outside and in more pass coverage, but the overall vibe was pretty good and my consistency was pretty good.
“There are always games where you ask yourself what if I did this or did that, especially in the Linton and Lutheran games. Overall, though, I did pretty well and the team did pretty well; we just have to get ourselves to play on the next level to beat the Lintons and the Lutherans.”
Among the state leaders in tackles, Beadles said others often kept tabs on his stats for him.
“My parents and my brother are my biggest supporters and they are always watching for that stuff,” Beadles said. “I watch it but I’m also not caught up on it.
“The West Vigo game I thought was one of my worst games looking at it as I felt I had a bad first half. We had an e-learning day and came in somewhat dull but that second half, I came out hard because I wasn’t doing what I needed to do, focusing on what I was doing wrong and not realizing I had an amazing game with as many tackles as I did.”
While looking forward to getting back in pads, Beadles noted he would be plenty busy until next summer.
“I wrestle and throw for track, so both sports will help me continue to be in shape,” Beadles pointed out. “Assistant coach (Evan) Bernhardt is our throwing coach, so we’ll have tough workouts during the spring.
“I also hope to get to some camps during the year and in the summer to get myself out there and also improve my play.”
Ahead of his senior year, Beadles said there were plenty of things he wanted to be able to accomplish at South Putnam next year.
“I’ll be hopefully leading the team to another county and conference championship while working our way into the sectional,” Beadles said. “I want to go above and beyond this year even, getting more tackles and stats but also aiming to be a top-50 player in the state.
“That’s a big thing but I’m looking to work and push my way into that spot. That’s my biggest goal for next year.”