Staff photo / Brian Yauger Tigers quarterback Beau Brungard, right, hugs offensive lineman Lucas Dattilo after scoring the game-winning touchdown this past weekend against Brookfield. Brungard, a senior, hopes to enjoy the ride his last year and guide Springfield back to another deep playoff run.

NEW MIDDLETOWN — It’s not exactly a stretch to call Springfield’s Beau Brungard, “a good football player.” Some may call that an understatement.

Brungard, the 6-foot quarterback who threw for 2,000 yards last season and rushed for over 1,000 more and tallying 47 total touchdowns, is one of the area’s best quarterbacks.

The Division VI All-Ohio Co-Offensive Player of the Year has started off the year on the right foot, helping guide Springfield back from a 14-7 deficit in the fourth quarter to win 20-14 over Brookfield in Week 2 with two touchdown rushes including one with 11 seconds remaining in the game.

“We came in knowing that they were going to be a really good team with a lot of athletes and we were expecting that,” Brungard said. “We came out, we didn’t have a great start, a lot of mistakes and a couple turnovers, but you know we just stuck through it. We just played through it and our guys had a great mindset. We put a four quarter game together, and it was tough, but we fortunately came out the winner.”

Tigers coach Sean Guerriero described it simply.

“Yeah, he’s all right,” Guerriero said with a laugh after the Brookfield game. “He’s not too bad.”

Staff photo/Brian Yauger Springfield quarterback Beau Brungard celebrates after scoring what would be the game-winning touchdown Friday at Brookfield. He called his own number twice at the end of the game to help guide his team.

The quarterback and strong safety combo has garnered interest from schools like Cincinnati, YSU and Akron. Now, with his final year underway, Brungard is hammering his foot on the gas in an effort to get the Tigers back to their third-consecutive state finals.

“I just want to take it all in,” he said. “You can take a break on the sideline, you can go home and take a break and just sleep, but on the field you’re giving it your all and, and you’ve got to leave no regrets behind. ‘What if I made that tackle? or ‘What if I got that interception?’ or whatever but, you’ve got to leave it all out there leave no regrets behind.”

Springfield is 1-1 on the season with a loss to South Range in the first week. Against the Raiders, Brungard went 10-of-14 and threw for 179 yards with one touchdown.

Like his coach said after the Brookfield game, Brungard mentioned how the Tigers are having a slow start, but are beginning to find their groove.

“We have a lot of young guys playing and it was a slow start to the year, they’re learning and all that, but now I think we’re getting on a roll a little bit,” Brungard said. “We’re learning and I think all the experience from the games will help them. This was a great motivation, going forward.”

Springfield has another tough contest this week with the Tigers hitting the road to Spire Stadium to take on Division III Geneva.

“I think it’s really exciting for our team,” Brungard said. “We get to go on the road, far away, and we get to play a D-III team and that doesn’t happen often for us. We’re all really excited and we’re looking forward to a good week of practice.”