Chapter and Verse: Dalys Beanum, Millard West (2019)

@HuskerlandBob Sez: On Sunday South Dakota State Football established itself as one of the sports premier programs with its second consecutive FCS national championship victory. The Jackrabbits, with 10 Nebraska high school graduates on its roster, throttled Montana, 23-3, to complete a perfect 15-0 season.

Among the stars of the show was former Millard West all-stater Dalys Beanum, who intercepted a pass in the championship game; nothing unusual about that since that made four straight playoff games in which he had a pick. Here is our feature story on Dalys from his 2019 senior season for head coach Kirk Peterson and the Wildcats:

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While Dalys Beanum can read a defense like a book he’s got nothing on a special group of elementary students who can do the same with him.

You can measure a man (or a woman) by the people they surround themselves with and when you ask Dalys his number one memory while at Millard West High School his answer is very telling. Remember, the dude is a Division I football player.

“My favorite memory from high school is from last October when the seniors went to read to the elementary students. That really hit my heart,” says Dalys, of whom you immediately become a huge fan upon completion of the previous sentence. “I remembered back when I was a little kid and how I was all over the big kids, asking questions and wanting them to notice me. It’s the same with these little kids. They were so excited to have us read to them, and at our football games they’d line up by the fence when we left the field, wanting us to give them a high five.”

His reaction to a situation like that is right in line with what you’d expect, if you ask Millard West head football coach Kirk Peterson.

“We always talk about learning from those that came before and Daly’s legacy is doing things the right way, all the time. If you follow someone’s lead, it’s Dalys,” says Coach Peterson. “It’s the same with coaching him. His attitude was awesome, always positive, upbeat. Dalys is just a great kid that represents Millard West in the right way.”

BTW, the kid can also play himself some football. After laying a serious football foundation as a junior he enjoyed a huge 2019 season, catching 28 passes for a stunning 746 yards (kids, that’s 27 yards a pop) and eight TDs while also establishing himself one of Class A’s best kick returners (both a punt and kickoff return for TDs) and a brilliant defensive back.

Funny thing about that DB thing. Kid had never played a full season of varsity cornerback until this, his senior season.

“Never coming off the field was tiring at times but it was nice knowing the team needs you like that,” says Dalys. “I especially loved the challenge of man-to-man coverage where it just comes down to who’s better. Playing defensive back also gave me the chance to show people what I could do on that side of the ball.”

Among the “people” who noticed what Dalys could do on that side of the ball - on all sides of the ball - was the football staff at Division I South Dakota State. With a couple of other D-1 offers on the table last summer Dalys accepted the SDSU offer.

“I’d been up there a couple of other times but when I went up there for camp it just felt like home. I had developed a great relationship with the coaching staff and the other players, and they treated my parents like royalty. I told my dad I don’t know what we are waiting for.”

His contributions were part and parcel of Millard West’s strong showing in 2019. Another strong showing by one of our top high school football programs but one that Dalys particularly savored.

“It felt like nobody expected much of us coming into the season and we surprised a lot of people by getting to the semifinals and playing (unbeaten state champion) Bellevue West within a touchdown,” he offers. “Finishing unbeaten in the regular season and winning our district championship were great accomplishments. We beat a lot of good teams and getting the number one playoff seed sort of opened some people’s eyes.”

So did his play at DB. Which is how one of our best wide receivers becomes a college cornerback.

“It’s kind of funny because when people would ask I would tell them I am wide receiver but now defense seems like my natural position.”

Born in St. Louis, Dalys moved with his family to Omaha back in 2005, “when I had a year of preschool left.” His older brother Vic was an outstanding football player and Millard West and Dalys also has an older sister. Like all high schoolers he enjoys time with friends but also makes time to watch football documentaries, especially liking some of them on Netflix. A strong student, Dalys carries a 3.5 GPA, and he’s also a starter on the Millard West basketball team. “We have the potential to make things really hard for the best teams if we can put things together.”

Once in college Dalys plans to study business. “I have been taking a lot of business classes this year trying to gather as much knowledge as I can. I like the idea of studying business because it is such a broad field with so many opportunities.”

Here in a few months Dalys will taking his show on the road after certainly making his mark at Millard West. In some ways it’s just a matter of him filling his potential, especially his football potential.

“I just remember him coming to all the camps we have here,” says Coach Peterson. “Dalys was always around when his older brother Vic played and I knew he was going to be something special and it turns out I was right.”