1 of 2
Photos by Erin Nelson.
Mountain Brook wide receiver Jackson Beatty (14) turns and heads for the end zone after catching a pass in a game between the Hornets and Spartans at Chelsea High School in October 2021.
2 of 2
Photo by Erin Nelson.
Mountain Brook linebacker Trent Wright (4) tackles Woodlawn strong safety Jamien Banks (21) in a game at Spartan Stadium in September 2021 at Mountain Brook High School.
A photo of Jackson Beatty and Trent Wright standing together exists online.
That makes sense. They’re both Class of 2023 football players at Mountain Brook High School, where they have amassed 32 victories since the beginning of their sophomore seasons. The photo, however, has nothing to do with football, and it was taken in 2014.
The photo is from the United States Specialty Sports Association All State Showcase that year, a baseball tournament in which the duo was selected to the 9U All-Tournament Team. There is a boy in navy blue, one in camouflage, another in gray, several in red jerseys with different logos, and one in a Hewitt-Trussville hat. There are two in Mountain Brook green.
“We’ve been friends since Day 1,” Wright said.
The duo was in the same kindergarten class, the same room in third grade, and several more thereafter. They are best friends. Beatty is a wide receiver who returns punts and kickoffs. As a Starnes Media All-South Metro first team selection a season ago, Beatty totaled 769 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. He also returned two kickoffs for scores. Wright made the second team as a linebacker with 105 tackles.
“I’ve never seen two kids, two players, that are hungrier for self-improvement, for team improvement, than those two,” Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager said. “To me, that’s the definition of a great leader. I think our team follows those guys.”
Knowing each other since kindergarten, the favorite memories, the important moments, all stand out to Beatty and Wright. They overflow. Both, however, talking on separate phone calls 10 hours apart, not knowing what each other said, spoke mostly about facing each other in sixth grade football. Best friends know. Wright would tackle Beatty on a play. Then Beatty would break a long run, leaving Wright chasing. They talked smack, roughed each other up.
“At the end of the day we were still best friends,” Beatty said.
Both have been key contributors since their sophomore seasons. Beatty has always had an “incredible appetite to improve,” while Wright has always had a “servant heart,” Yeager said.
“When your best players work the hardest, it’s one of the best signs of a very healthy culture, and I think that defines both of those guys,” he said. “They’re both legacy players. Their impact is going to be felt in our program long after their eligibility is gone. They’ve set an example for these guys that when they are gone, this is what it means to be a Mountain Brook Spartan.”
Yeager remembered watching both when they were in grade school. He remembered Beatty, so small that half of the number on the front of his jersey was tucked into his pants, being so fast that defenders couldn’t get a hand on him.
“He had real speed even when he was little,” Yeager said.
He remembered Wright, now the “rock of that defense,” being born a tackler, whose dad played on the Ole Miss defense in the 1990s.
“If it was moving, he wanted to hit it,” Yeager said of the younger Wright.
Mountain Brook returns eight offensive starters and six on defense this season. The Spartans, winners of six playoff games over the past two seasons, stand to be a tough opponent in Class 6A. Beatty will be an offensive leader. Wright will be vocal on defense.
“Especially being our senior year, we’re going to continue to give everything we have and go out there and try to win every game and do all we can to help the team,” Beatty said. “I think we have a very good group this year on both sides of the ball.”
Beatty said this team has a “bunch of guys who want to lead and not just sit back.” In 2022, Beatty and Wright appear to be the “leaders of the leaders,” Yeager said. The duo has met over the summer at the high school during their off time to work out together.
“We push each other all the time,” Wright said. “We try to push each other to strive for greatness. Working out, I’m a bigger guy; he’s a faster guy. He always pushes me to be faster, and I always push him to be stronger.” Best friends know.
