Beechwood’s Mr. Football announces he will return for another senior season
Beechwood quarterback Cameron Hergott, who led the Tigers to two state titles and swept this past season’s Mr. Football honors, has announced that he will take advantage of the state’s do-over law and return for another season of high school football.
“As a result of the Beechwood school board approving SB-128, I am excited to announce that I will be reclassifying to the c/o 2022 at Beechwood High School!” Hergott posted on Twitter on Monday evening.
Senate Bill 128 allows any student to repeat a grade next school year to make up for the loss of traditional schooling caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The deadline to request a do-over year was May 1.
In Fayette County, 523 students applied for a do-over year, but Fayette County has not yet indicated how it will act on those requests. Under the law, school boards must either accept or reject SB 128 applications as a whole. Students of any grade, not just seniors, are eligible for a do-over year if their school boards approve.
For student athletes, there are a couple of complicating factors.
First, they must be younger than 19 years old on Aug. 1 to be eligible to play another season. That age stipulation was not altered by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. Many students graduate as either 17- or 18-year-olds, so the KHSAA age rule is not a significant factor for most.
Second, student athletes hoping to become NCAA Division I athletes face an additional hurdle in that they have only a four-year window to earn enough graduation credits to be eligible to play at college sports’ highest level. SB 128 requires students to repeat the same course work in their do-over year with no opportunity to expand their credits that year, so for freshman, sophomore and junior repeaters, SB 128 means they could fall short of meeting NCAA D-I requirements if they don’t manage their credits properly. Other collegiate athletic divisions have no such restriction.
The KHSAA offers guidance navigating SB 128 issues on its website.
Neither of those factors appear to be a problem for Hergott, a senior already on track to graduate within the D-1 window.
Hergott had previously announced his commitment as a walk-on at Akron.
Hergott was named co-Mr. Football by The Associated Press for the 2020 season, sharing the honor with Frederick Douglass offensive lineman Jager Burton. Hergott won the Kentucky Football Coaches Association Mr. Football outright. Hergott is a 6-foot-2 dual-threat quarterback who was the MVP of the Class A state football championship his sophomore year and the MVP of the Class 2A state championship his senior year,
A three-year starter, Hergott has 6,214 yards and 65 TDs passing and 2,376 yards and 34 TDs rushing for his career.
This story was originally published May 10, 2021 at 9:34 PM.
