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The Pattonville junior quarterback threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers in the first half, delivered some timely runs out of the pocket and went a perfect 5-for-5 on point-after tries in emergency kicking duties to lead the Pirates to a 43-0 win over Hazelwood West in a nonconference football game at Pattonville.

鈥淗e is our leader and I know he鈥檚 a leader because my seniors follow him and my seniors last year followed him,鈥� Pattonville coach Steve Smith said. 鈥淗e is a kid that is coachable. I get on him just as much as I get on everybody else and he takes it, so everybody knows they have to take it. When you have a kid that鈥檚 a student of the game and he does the things his coaches ask him to do, it makes it easy for everybody else to fall in line."

No word yet on whether or not Beckermann sold tickets before the game or popcorn at halftime, but if Smith asked him to, he no doubt would do it.

鈥淚 think a lot of coaches, when you ask them what they want, they want a football player,鈥� Beckermann said. 鈥淚鈥檇 love to play defense if they gave me a shot. I do my best to do what they need me to do. What鈥檚 best for the team, I鈥檒l do it. I鈥檓 just there for the team.鈥�

Pirates earn rare 2-0 start

After a season-opening win over Fort Zumwalt North and Thursday鈥檚 triumph against the Wildcats, the Pirates are 2-0 for the first time since the COVID-shortened 2020 season and for the first time in a full season since 2015.

鈥淚t just means that we鈥檝e actually been doing what we thought we would do coming out of the summer. We feel like we are gonna put in the work and we鈥檙e gonna let the work speak for itself and the work is starting to speak for itself,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚鈥檓 just excited to see what this group can do. They鈥檙e a very coachable group, they enjoy competing against each other and they really enjoy competing against other people. It鈥檚 gonna be awesome to see how they grow through the course of this year.鈥�

Wildcats fizzle after opening win

Hazelwood West (1-1) knocked off school district rival Hazelwood East for just the third time in the last 13 tries in the season opener but couldn鈥檛 replicate that success against the Pirates.

It was a sloppy performance by the Wildcats to the tune of 11 accepted penalties, a couple of timeouts burned because of poor time management, a pick-six by the Pirates and a snap that went out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

Building on last season

Beckermann had a breakout sophomore campaign a year ago.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound signal caller set new Pattonville single-season records in completions (196), attempts (321), passing yards (3,116) and passing TDs (27) as he led the Pirates to a spot in the Class 6 semifinals.

鈥淚t definitely helped me build a little bit of confidence, for sure,鈥� Beckermann said. 鈥淎nd just understanding the offense. The more reps you get and the more you hear the plays called, you know what you鈥檙e looking for.鈥�

Passing fancy

Beckermann got his night started Thursday with a beautiful scramble to his right before finding Eli Hopgood in the end zone for a 27-yard TD with just under four minutes left in the first quarter.

Beckermann then reeled off a trio of scoring tosses in the second quarter.

His first came one minute in on a 20-yard strike to Kingston Robinson and he later followed that with TD passes to Benjamin Heimsoth (4 yards) and Manny Hopgood (26 yards).

鈥淚t鈥檚 a beautiful thing,鈥� Beckermann said. 鈥淭hese guys put in great work over the summer, and we鈥檝e been staying after and getting work in. I just know that they鈥檙e bought into me and I鈥檓 bought into them. I know I can trust all of them.鈥�

Running wild

Beckermann had some well-timed runs for big yardage against the Wildcats.

Perhaps none was bigger than his 20-yard scramble on a third-and-19 play in the third quarter. On the very next play, Aeran Collins took a handoff and scored from 34 yards out.

鈥淥ur motto is we鈥檙e gonna take whatever the defense gives us,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚f they鈥檙e gonna give us the run, we鈥檒l take the run. If they want to give us the pass, I don鈥檛 think he has a problem with wanting to throw the ball. We give him that liberty and it鈥檚 great to see it in action.鈥�

Getting his kicks

Beckermann is Pattonville鈥檚 normal punter, but he added place kicking duties to the mix on Thursday.

With regular kickers Conner Kaufmann and Zach Usry away playing for the Pirates soccer team against Parkway South, Beckermann was next in line to boot PATs.

He knocked in three extra points in a district game against Ritenour last season and did himself two better with five makes against the Wildcats.

鈥淚 kicked a little bit last year and I kicked a little bit in junior league, so I鈥檝e had a little bit of practice,鈥� Beckermann said.

Up next

Pattonville will look to make it three straight wins to start the season for the first time in six years when it hits the road for a game at Lafayette (1-0) next Friday night.

Hazelwood West will look to bounce back next Friday when it plays at Fox (1-0) to conclude a run of three consecutive road games to start the season.