TACKLING A NEW CHALLENGE: Karns City Hoop Star Taite Beighley Will Give Football a Try This Year for First Time as a Senior

KARNS CITY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — There’s little Taite Beighley can’t do on the basketball court.

Score? Sure. The Karns City junior point guard put up 14.1 points per game as a junior last year.

Hand out assists? He can do that, too. In fact, he takes more pride in that ability than anything. He had 4.8 assists per night last season.

Rebound? You bet. Despite standing just a shade over 5-foot-10, Beighley contributed four boards per game.

Play defense. Watch out when Beighley is around — he averaged 3.4 steals per contest.

Beighley has committed himself completely to the sport. His older brother, Chase, is the all-time leading scorer in Gremlin boys basketball history, and Taite, while a different kind of player than his brother, has carved out his own standout career in purple and gold.

But now, Beighley is taking his athletic gifts to a new realm this fall as a senior.

(Pictured above, Taite Beighley)

A quite unexpected one at that.

It came about almost as a goof, a conversation between two friends that turned into a pact.

Mason Martin, a junior on the Karns City football team, needed a receiver to help him hone his skills as a quarterback. Beighley was happy to help.

Turns out some of the strengths Beighley uses on the basketball court — quickness, smooth change of direction, vision — are pretty good traits to have as a football player, too.

So, Beighley decided to give football a go this year. In return, Martin would join the basketball team this winter.

“I went to a passing scrimmage and I did well,” Beighley said. “Mason was like, ‘You should just play.’ And I said, ‘Alright. Why not?’”

(Taite Beighley goes to the hoop for Karns City in a win over Forest Area last season/photo by Holly Mead)

Since, Beighley has taken his new sport seriously.

He’s ramped up his work in the weight room to try to add some bulk to his sinewy 150-pound frame.

He’s also taken a deeper dive into the nuances of football.

“I used to play football in the backyard, but nothing organized,” Beighley said. “I need to know the game more, but I can run and jump and I can catch.

“I’ve been in the weight room a little, and me and Mason always come down to the field,” Beighley added. “He’s been helping me doing agility drills and helping me understand the game a little bit better.”

Beighley’s arrival on the football team came as a surprise to the Karns City coaching staff.

Especially offensive coordinator Zach Kepple, who is also the boys basketball coach for the Gremlins.

But Kepple encouraged Beighley to play, despite the potential risk to the star point guard’s health before his senior basketball season.

Karns City was 22-6 last season and has a wealth of talent returning to the court this winter to make another run at a district title.

“I mean, my biggest concern is getting hurt, but if I go out there playing not to get hurt, it’s more likely to happen,” Beighley said. “I talked to (Kepple) about it. I was like, ‘Is it really worth it to play football?’ I want to win the D9 basketball championship. He said, ‘Why not? You have one more year left. You might as well have some fun with it.’”

Kepple and Karns City head football coach Joe Sherwin have already been impressed with Beighley.

They view him as a player who can certainly help the Gremlins this season.

“He’s already shown that in some of the 7-on-7s we’ve been to and the way he’s worked out in practice,” Sherwin said. “He’s a hard worker and doesn’t say anything. He just does what we want him to do and I appreciate that.”

For Beighley, what began as tongue-in-cheek has now become serious.

He doesn’t just want to be on the team. He wants to contribute.

“I’ve always wanted to play since like the sixth grade, but I never really got into it like I did basketball,” Beighley said. “I wouldn’t have played last year if I’m honest with that group — we had lots of receivers. So this was the year there was opportunity at wide receiver.

“It’s a learning experience,” Beighley added. “But coaches have really help me, you know. Coach (Ethan) Conto, he’s our safety coach and he’s been teaching me a lot. And then Coach Sherwin and Coach Kepp have a lot of advice to give me.”