Beaupre a force on the field for Franklin football

Jeff Davis knew the Franklin High School football team was going to have a tough time replacing the seniors from last year's Division IV runner-up.

With a roster of 17 by the end of 2018, losing almost a dozen players to graduation meant turning over around three-quarters of the lineup.

But there was one player Davis knew the Golden Tornadoes could lean on this year when things got tough. The coach had watched how Jake Beaupre went about his offseason workouts, hitting the weight room on a consistent basis while also playing for the Franklin basketball team in the winter.

"We knew right off the bat he was going to be our stud guy," Davis said of the junior running back and safety. "We’re a young crew, (but) we had a lot of offensive linemen come back. We were hoping that if we’re right around 150 yards with him every game, we’d be pretty good. I didn’t expect him to start popping out 250-yard games left and right like it’s his day job."

With one game left in the regular season, Beaupre has reached the 250-yard mark in half of Franklin's games, including a 379-yard, four-touchdown performance in the team's lone win over Farmington-Nute in the second game of the year. Through six games, he's averaging 228.3 rushing yards per game, has averaged 8.5 yards per carry and has scored 12 touchdowns.

And should Beaupre reach that average Saturday, when Franklin (1-5) hosts Winnisquam (6-0) at 2 p.m., he'll top 1,500 yards for the season.

"I just wanted to hit a thousand (yards)," Beaupre said. "That was my goal at the beginning of the season and I’m happy I accomplished it, two games ago."

Beaupre has played football since he was 7 years old, but last offseason was the first time he took to the weight room. Knowing what Franklin was losing, he wanted to be prepared to carry the load if the team needed him to.

"I was just trying to get bigger and stronger for the season," he said. "Last season was the first season I actually picked up a weight before. All the seniors that were leaving, I felt I had to step up for my team."

According to Davis, that offseason work has allowed the coaches to give Beaupre the ball a lot this year, as he's averaged 27 rushing attempts per game.

"He’s taking a heavy load," Davis said. "He hit the weight room really hard after last year and throughout basketball season. That’s all he was doing in the spring. He was hitting the gym and out running, so he’s definitely worked at it. He’s been patient with it and acting like a leader, like we need him to be."

It took a little time at the beginning of the year for the Franklin offensive to mesh, but the line of Simon Pitman, Jacob Fisher-Vally, Eathan McCoy, Dawson Lafrance, Zach Smith and Eban Bishop has helped clear the way for Beaupre's standout season.

"(Beaupre) was telling me, I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without my offensive line," Davis said. "We’re losing three of those guys next year, too, but we’ve been doing a nice job of having those youngsters step in at the offensive line as well."

While the Golden Tornadoes will be frustrated with having their season end after Saturday's game, Beaupre is excited that there will be one more year of high school football for him. He plans on getting to work to prepare for 2020 as soon as possible.

And if all goes well, Beaupre hopes it will help him reach his ultimate goal of getting to play at the next level.

"That’s my top goal," he said. "I want to make it to college football so bad. Just get into a good college and play football."

Davis wouldn't bet against him.

"He’ll hit the weight room hard, he’ll stay in shape," the coach said. "He loves football, he loves basketball, he’s a competitor and he’s always going to be better than he was the day before. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.

"If he does decide he wants to go play at the next level, he’s a great student, and his work ethic is what is going to get him there. I could see him doing big things. He’s capable of doing whatever he wants to do."