A pair of defensive players for the University of Calgary football Dinos have been named to the U-Sports All-Canadian first team as chosen by a committee of U Sports football coaches.
Oh, and one of them is also the nation’s best defensive player.
The selection of defensive safety Nate Beauchemin from Kelowna, and defensive end Liam Reid of Vernon, marks the first time Calgary has had two first team all-Canadian defensive players since 2015.
It’s also the first time Calgary has had two first all-Canadians since the Philpot twins (Jalen and Tyson) from South Delta were selected in the shortened 2021 season.
Beauchemin, 21 had a remarkable Canada West season resulting in his being named the President’s Award winner as the U-Sports Defensive Player of the Year Thursday, Nov. 21. He had been named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year earlier in the month.
Beauchemin paid tribute to former U of C safety Matt Lucyshyn as a mentor.
“Matt showed me the way to play as a student of the game,” he said.
Beauchemin, a former inside halfback and special teams player, led Canada West with four interceptions which placed him second nationally. Half of the picks he returned for touchdowns.
He was also a force on special teams with numerous tackles and a blocked field goal. Beauchemin finished the season with 54 tackles of which 28 were solo tackles and one forced fumble.
The 6-foot-2, 200 pound fourth year Kinesiology student is the first Dinos defensive back to earn all-Canadian status since Deane Leonard, now with the National Football League Los Angeles Chargers, in 2019, and the first President’s Award winner since Darcy Kopp earned the honour in 1985.
Nate joined the Dinos from Kelowna Secondary School, where he was coached by Chris Cartwright, in 2021 seeing action on special teams before gaining a starting spot at inside halfback in his sophomore season and was moved to safety last year.
“I am very proud of Nate. From the moment he walked into the defensive back room he was extremely studious, respectful and focused,” said Dinos head coach Marcello Rapini. “Nate had the opportunity to learn from a highly respected group of defensive backs and utilized every moment to get better.”
Reid, 22, started the season impressively recording a forced fumble on the opening kick-off against the University of Regina Rams and never looked back. Reid was a unanimous conference all-star at defensive end. He recorded 20 solo tackles along with nine assisted tackles, four quarterback sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in eight conference contests.
Reid joined the Dinos from Vernon Secondary School in 2020, having played for Panthers head coach Sean Smith, but had no football that year due to COVID.
In 2021, he gained a starting spot in the second regular season game at outside linebacker and has been a mainstay on the defensive unit ever since.
The 6-foot-3, 240-lb. Reid is in his fourth year in the Haskayne School of Business. He becomes first defensive lineman to be an all-Canadian since J-Min Pelly, now with the Edmonton Elks, was in 2019.
“Being an all-Canadian means a lot,” Reid said. “It was a personal goal I set at the beginning of the year. It is cool to be recognized at the national level.”
Reid was quick to pay tribute to former players who were all selected in the Canadian Football League Draft recently, and were starters on the 2019 National Championship team.
“Charlie Moore, Grant McDonald, and (former VSS teammate) Josh Hyer showed me the effort it takes to get to where they got to when I joined the program,” said Reid.
Dinos defensive line coach Chris Anstey worked with Reid for two years and feels Reid is well deserving of the recognition.
“Liam is a as tough as leather. He has a really diverse skill set with zero intimidation factor on the football field and is ultra-prepared,” said Anstey.
Reid is from the same Panthers program that produced former Dino defensive lineman Hyer (a Vanier Cup Canadian U-Sport champion with Calgary), former receiver Zack Smith, current offensive centre Brady Szeman as well his younger brother, receiver Roan Reid.
