Beechwood hosts Gallatin County at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, for Homecoming in Fort Mitchell. The unbeaten, top-ranked Tigers will also honor the late Mike Yeagle, who won eight state championships coaching the program.

The City of Fort Mitchell announced on X that the Homecoming matchup will include a ceremony for the former coach. Yeagle, a Fort Mitchell resident who died May 30, 2024, at age 63, compiled a 183-27 record in 15 seasons leading the Tigers from 1991 through 2005.

He was the first Kentucky coach to win four consecutive state titles, doing so from 1991 through 1994, according to NKY Tribune reporting at the time of his death. WCPO-TV named him one of the top nine all-time coaching legends in Greater Cincinnati high school football.

Yeagle was a Beechwood graduate who played quarterback under Bernie Barre before returning to coach. He is a member of the Beechwood Hall of Fame, the Northern Kentucky Athletic Directors Hall of Fame and was the first person from Beechwood inducted into Cincinnati's Buddy LaRosa High School Sports Hall of Fame.

Current head coach Noel Rash, who served as Yeagle's defensive coordinator, said in a May 2024 NKY Tribune interview that Yeagle "had a lot to do with the culture of greatness that is Beechwood."

"Those kids were his kids," Rash said at the time.

The Tigers in 2026

Beechwood (7–0) enters the game ranked No. 1 in the Class 2A statewide media poll, receiving 15 of 16 first-place votes in the rankings released Oct. 14, according to Courier Journal rankings. The Tigers are one of just two undefeated teams remaining in Northern Kentucky.

Rash returned to the Beechwood sideline this season after three years away. He won eight state championships in his first 17 seasons leading the program, according to a Link NKY season preview published in August.

Senior quarterback Emmett Queen, a Wake Forest commit, threw for 2,710 yards and 39 touchdowns last season, according to NKY Tribune's preseason preview.

Senior Tyler Fryman, who has committed to play football and baseball at Kentucky, and senior Nathan Pabst round out a returning skill group that powered one of Kentucky's top offenses in 2025.

The Tigers' only close game was a 42-35 win over Covington Catholic. They outscored their other six opponents 312-10, including a 62-0 win over St. Henry in Week 8, according to Yahoo Sports scores.

Homecoming week and what's next

The game caps a full Homecoming week that included a parade Wednesday, Oct. 14, and a Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame Celebration at Fort Mitchell Country Club Thursday, Oct. 15, according to the Beechwood Alumni Association. A tailgate opens in the school cafeteria at 6 p.m. Friday. Campus tours follow Saturday, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to noon.

Gallatin County enters the matchup after a 58-0 loss to Walton-Verona in Week 8 and a 52-0 loss to St. Henry in late September. Both teams compete in Class 2A, District 5.

After Homecoming, Beechwood travels to Bracken County on Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m., then visits Campbell County on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.