Maquoketa Valley lineman takes a Beitz out of his opponents

CEDAR RAPIDS — It was a football Friday night in which Maquoketa Valley was on the road for a game.

This game was barely underway, somewhere in the first quarter. MV’s Nathan Beitz broke free on the defensive line with cat-like quickness and brought down an opposing ballcarrier for a substantial loss.

“Man,” one of the workers in the press box exclaimed. “That Beitz kid is really good.”

Yes, he is. On both sides of the football, a reason why Maquoketa Valley has advanced to the Class A quarterfinals of the state playoffs.

Maquoketa Valley plays Friday night at Saint Ansgar in a matchup of 9-1 teams. Saint Ansgar is ranked third by The Gazette and the Wildcats seventh.

Maquoketa Valley is on a nine-game heater after losing its season opener to Cascade, 10-9. Its closest win has been by 19 points.

“It was a tough start,” Beitz said. “We lost our first game to Cascade and were still trying to put a few things together. We didn’t have the two leaders we did last year in (2023 all-state players) Lance (McShane) and Aidan (Salow), so somebody just really had to step up.

“After the Cascade game, I decided I should probably figure something out and rile the guys up, so that way we could have success. Then we were just able to have success because a couple of other guys stepped up, too. Everybody understands that everyone just needs to do their job and everybody had to step up a little bit when they left.”

The 6-foot-2, 225-pounder is a three-year starter. He leads Maquoketa Valley in tackles (70 1/2), solos (37), sacks (8) and tackles for loss (28 1/2).

The TFL total leads the state.

“At the beginning of the season, we thought he might be a linebacker, just to get him to the ball and stuff like that,” said first-year MV Coach Andrew Christensen. “But I think it was pretty evident right away (about) two things.”

The first was sophomore Kyle Engelken being able to step up and play a linebacker position very well.

“Then Nathan, and it’s partly his wrestling background, too, he just uses his hands so well,” Christensen said. “You can’t block him one on one. He just knows how to use leverage, he’s quick, and he has a nasty streak to him. I wouldn’t call him a mean kid necessarily day to day. He’s a quiet kid, not a vocal leader, for the most part.

“But I think he gets himself into the mindset to defeat his opponent every play. The other thing he does a really good job with is he never gets out of position. He can kind of read what the offensive line is trying to do and get himself to the ball really well, even if the play is away (from him).”

Beitz, a state wrestling placewinner, said he has gotten used to the double and triple teams he sees on a regular basis. He moves around to different positions on the line, different sides to make it tougher for defenses to block him.

If he doesn’t make the tackle, he frees up teammates to do so.

“It works out in my favor and the linebackers’ favor, just because a lot of schools are double-teaming me and triple-teaming me,” Beitz said. “When that doesn’t happen, I can make a big play. Then when it is happening, our linebackers are making big plays.

“Mentally it’s tough, but you’ve just got to fight through it and hold your ground. A lot of our games have been won right at the line of scrimmage, so if I can hold three guys right there and let our linebackers make tackles for losses and stuff ... I may not get the stats or the glory, but in my eyes I did my job because they’re making the big plays back there.”

You’d think Beitz would be a tackle on offense, but Christensen plays him at center, which he believes is a boon for the team. Beitz calls things on the line and his ability to be able to play any position up front allows him to help his teammates.

Sophomore running back Rogan Heidt has rushed for just under 1,500 yards this season for Maquoketa Valley. Quarterback Brady Wall has thrown for 1,723 yards and 18 touchdowns in the Wildcats’ spread offensive attack.

“I knew that we would grow (as the season went along), but I didn’t know exactly how good we would be, just from losing an all-state running back and an all-state defensive lineman,” Heidt said. “I knew we were returning enough that we’d be pretty solid, but I didn’t know how good we could be. How would we mature? We had a lot of young kids last year, and right now we still have a lot of young kids playing.

“The main thing for me is I just take every snap like it’s going to be the last one and give 100 percent. As a senior, you never know when the last snap is going to occur.”

Hopefully not for a couple more weeks or so.

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