Beal City came into the season realizing it had an outstanding football team, with most of its players back from a 2012 squad that was 13-1 and lost to Harbor Beach in the Division 8 state title game.
The question, however, was who would be the quarterback.
The answer has been Kurt Gross.
The Aggies compiled 171 points in their first three games. The offense was led by a powerful running attack, headed by Hayden Hubert with 23 carries for 223 yards and six touchdowns, and Alex Schafer with 186 yards on 17 tries for one touchdown.
Gross was 12 of 16 for 392 yards in those games with four touchdowns. Two of the strikes went to Carson Salisbury, who had four catches for 136 yards. Ryan Tilmann snagged four passes for 148 yards and a TD.
Beal City coach Lou Rau acknowledged that Gross has committed some errors on offense, but “other than that, he has done well.”
The Aggies knew they were going to have a good football team, but they just didn’t know who would be the quarterback. Kurt Gross, Alex Schafer, and Tucker Gross were all vying for the job. Rau said that there was always a chance he might use more than one quarterback in a game, but regardless of who got the job, plenty would be expected of him. “For any team, the quarterback is critical,” Rau said. “We have to be able to focus, not just on our running game, but have an accurate passing game.”
Going into week one, Rau decided that Gross would be the guy. He had a very good scrimmage,” Rau sad. “He’s a senior. Those were two major factors. I have the other guys playing in other spots. This way,we could get everybody on the field. It was our best option.”
Tucker Gross, a sophomore, has also has taken some snaps at the quarterback spot and could do the job at that position if necessary. He plays linebacker on defense.
Schafer is a junior running back.
What has made the quarterback job easier to inherit from Sam Schafer, who held the position last year, has been the return of so many excellent players.
“Sam was a tough quarterback to replace,” Rau said. “But we return so many kids.”
It’s Gross’s second full varsity season for the Aggies. He was brought up for the playoffs his freshman year. He was backup quarterback last season and did some kickoffs. He also does the kickoffs this year.
Gross knew there would be competition for the starting quarterback job and did extensive off-season work to get himself ready.
“A lot of throwing drills I did on my own…plus working on my footwork,” he said. “I tried to do as much as I could around baseball and some basketball. When I could be there, I was there. Did as much as I could. I was there in the weight room.”
His baseball team was state runner-up and the basketball team made it to the state quarterfinals.
Gross’s first year of football was in the eighth grade when he was tight end. “I wanted to try [quarterback],” he recalled. “I always wanted to, but in eighth grade, we already had a quarterback.”
Eventually, though, Gross did become quarterback, getting the starting job his freshman year on the junior varsity squad.
“Beal City runs the ball a lot,” he said. “My freshman year, my first year playing quarterback, I did a lot of handing off. My sophomore year, we passed a little more and I got experience.”
As quarterback for a T offense, Gross works on his fakes and also his throws. He had a five-yard touchdown run against Clare.
He feels his accuracy as a passer can be strong when he uses his footwork. He’s thrown one interception, which he blames on his failure to use proper footwork.
He attributes the powerful Aggies offensive line and the quality of the backs for helping the team score so many points.
The Aggies hope to have another memorable season. “Every year we have high expectations,” Gross said. “We want to get better every week.”
Meanwhile, he is having fun.
“Throwing a touchdown pass and hearing the crowd―we have a pretty big crowd―hearing them erupt, that’s pretty fun,” he said.