When Carroll Academy football coach Bo Milton decided he was going to change his offense to an I-formation, he had one person in mind.
And that was 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior running back Jeb Beck, who is the latest addition to The Winona Times’ Top 10 Players to Watch.
“He started at middle linebacker for us last year and was our No. 2 running back,” Milton said. “But he is going to be our feature running back. We are getting in the ‘I’ because of him. He’s 6-1, 210 pounds and runs downhill, really hard. He broke a lot of runs last year where he just ran downhill. We are hoping to take advantage of how big he is and how hard of a runner he is.”
As the No. 2 running back last year, Beck rushed for more than 400 yards and had six touchdowns. But Milton expects Beck to get the majority of the carries.
“He will get 25 carries plus all of the pass plays,” Milton said. “He’s a kid that is going to play close to 100 snaps a game. He probably played 50-60 snaps a game last year and we worked him out this summer with that in mind. In 7-on-7, we have him running a lot of the deep routes. I see him getting better every day with his conditioning.”
When it comes to conditioning and weights, Milton said Beck is one of the kids he doesn’t worry about.
“He has three younger brothers,” Milton said. “One is going to be a sophomore, and they lift weights and love it. If he misses a day of weights in the summer, he’s not one that you think has to be in the weight room because he is going to be lifting at home anyway.”
Beck said that comes straight from his father.
“My whole family is like that,” Beck said. “My dad is a big guy, and he has molded us that way to work out. To always be disciplined and always do what you say you are going to do. My younger brothers, they have gotten pretty strong. They are already stronger than me and Cooper, my older brother. That’s just what we have had to do to keep pushing ourselves.”
Beck said the emergence of his younger brothers has pushed him to work harder.
“The twins, my younger brother is about 6-3 and he has gotten just as strong as me and I can’t let that happen,” Beck said. “And the twins are getting stronger every day. My dad was big into lifting 10 or 12 years ago, and we have all of those old rusty weights at home. We have a room out in our shop, and we are constantly out there doing weights, trying to get as strong as I can be. I know strength is only part of the game but having that edge over everybody else is a big thing.”
Milton said the team seems to be taking on the attitude of Beck.
“They are going to listen to Jeb, he’s their leader,” Milton said. “He is a senior, but he is another good kid and a hard worker. He shows up every day and has a good attitude. This is a blue-collar team, and it starts with our seniors and Jeb and the whole senior group is a blue-collar kind of team. They don’t say a lot, they just come to weight lifting and do what they are supposed to do. The come to weights and work and have a good attitude about it.”
Besides fullback, Beck will mainly play middle linebacker for the Rebels.
“He will play linebacker,” Milton said. “But he is also capable of putting his hand down and rushing the passer because he is so strong. We will move him around. He’s a load to block to try and get pressure on the quarterback.
“We have told him that it’s a lot on him. We tell them that your senior year is what people are going to remember you by. He wants to have a good year and he will have a good year. You put some good people around him so he doesn’t have a target but he will be the guy who has to carry a lot of load on him.”
While the Rebels made the playoffs last year, two late losses to rivals Central Holmes and Winona still stings. Beck hopes this group of Rebels can turn that around.
“We have been practicing a lot harder this year,” Beck said. “I think we have the right attitudes on the team now and all the right people who want to win and I think that makes a big difference, even though we are a small football team.”
Beck said when he’s not lifting weights or playing football, he is generally working around his house or his grandmother’s house. After high school, Beck said he would like to follow his mother into pharmacy school.
