In our first year of recognizing the top stat-stuffers in North Carolina Division III football, Brevard quarterback Ethan Beamish won the triple crown.
The junior from Simpsonville, S.C. led the Old North State’s D3 signal callers in passing yards, passing yards-per-game and passing touchdowns. In all three categories, the competition wasn’t even close.
Beamish, a second-team all-conference selection, completed 151 of 232 passes during the fall campaign, finishing with 2,093 yards and 25 touchdowns. He averaged 232.6 passing yards per contest.
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Beamish transferred to Brevard in 2023 after starting his collegiate career at Limestone. He has since become the Tornados’ all-time leader in completions (360), passing yards (4,790) and passing touchdowns (48).
Beamish’s 25 touchdowns this past fall set a new Brevard single-season standard. He earned USA South Conference offensive player of the week honors three times.
Chaz Hirschman of North Carolina Wesleyan and Brennan Brucato of Methodist battled for second place in D3 passing yards. Hirschman, a graduate student from Jacksonville, Fla., had the edge by 10 yards, finishing with 1,432 for the year.
Brucato, a sophomore from Kennesaw, Ga., took the reins of the Monarchs offense this season after 10,000-yard passer Brandon Bullins exhausted his eligibility in 2023. Methodist has had great fortune in recent years with quarterbacks bearing the initials “BB”.
Here is the complete list of D3 passing champions in five categories:
2024 D3 Stat Champions | North Carolina Passing Leaders
Most Passing Yards | Season Leaders
| RANK | PLAYER (SCHOOL) | CLASS | YARDS | GAMES | COMP | ATT | TDs | INTs |
| 1 | Ethan Beamish (Brevard) | Jr. | 2,093 | 9 | 151 | 232 | 25 | 7 |
| 2 | Chaz Hirschman (NC Wesleyan) | Sr. | 1,432 | 10 | 114 | 198 | 10 | 6 |
| 3 | Brennan Brucato (Methodist) | So. | 1,422 | 8 | 141 | 273 | 6 | 7 |
| 4 | Caleb Robles (Guilford) | Fr. | 1,194 | 10 | 104 | 198 | 7 | 12 |
| 5 | Josh Sims (Greensboro) | So. | 792 | 6 | 63 | 127 | 4 | 3 |
| 6 | De’yon Cannon (Greensboro) | Fr. | 605 | 4 | 39 | 67 | 4 | 5 |
| 7 | Javier Rice (NC Wesleyan) | Fr. | 572 | 8 | 36 | 65 | 4 | 2 |
| 8 | Jayden Morrison (Greensboro) | Jr. | 516 | 6 | 33 | 88 | 4 | 6 |
Passing Yards-Per-Game | Season Leaders
| 1 | Ethan Beamish (Brevard) | Jr. | 232.6 | 9 |
| 2 | Brennan Brucato (Methodist) | So. | 177.8 | 8 |
| 3 | De’yon Cannon (Greensboro) | Fr. | 151.3 | 4 |
| 4 | Chaz Hirschman (NC Wesleyan) | Sr. | 143.2 | 10 |
| 5 | Josh Sims (Greensboro) | So. | 132.0 | 6 |
| 6 | Caleb Robles (Guilford) | Fr. | 119.4 | 10 |
| 7 | Jayden Morrison (Greensboro) | Jr. | 86.0 | 6 |
| 8 | Javier Rice (NC Wesleyan) | Fr. | 71.5 | 8 |
Passing Touchdowns | Season Leaders
| RANK | PLAYER (SCHOOL) | CLASS | TDs | GAMES |
| 1 | Ethan Beamish (Brevard) | Jr. | 25 | 9 |
| 2 | Chaz Hirschman (NC Wesleyan) | Sr. | 10 | 10 |
| 3 | Caleb Robles (Guilford) | Fr. | 7 | 10 |
| 4 | Brennan Brucato (Methodist) | So. | 6 | 8 |
| 5 | Javier Rice (NC Wesleyan) | Fr. | 4 | 8 |
| 6 | Josh Sims (Greensboro) | So. | 4 | 6 |
| 7 | De’yon Cannon (Greensboro) | Fr. | 4 | 4 |
| 8 | Jayden Morrison (Greensboro) | Jr. | 4 | 6 |
Passing Yards | Single Game (300+)
Greensboro’s De’yon Cannon – who has a GREAT name for a passing quarterback – showed off his cannon in a week five win over Southern Virginia (42-23). The freshman from Grayson, Ga. threw for a D3 single-game best of 363 yards with four touchdowns.
Hirschman had a big day against Ferrum in week three, completing 25-of-38 for 337 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Battling Bishops lost a nailbiter 28-24.
Beamish had two 300-yard games and another where he threw for 299. Beamish also had two games with five passing touchdowns and two more with four (see below).
Player (School) COMP ATT YDS TD INT LONG DATE OPPONENT RESULT De’yon Cannon (Greensboro) 20 32 363 4 2 67 Week 5 Southern Virginia W, 42-23 Chaz Hirschman (NC Wesleyan) 25 38 337 2 1 48 Week 3 Ferrum L, 24-28 Ethan Beamish (Brevard) 18 28 315 5 1 43 Week 6 at Southern Virginia W, 55-21 Ethan Beamish (Brevard) 18 25 310 4 1 64 Week 7 Greensboro W, 42-9 Ethan Beamish (Brevard) 21 29 299 5 1 59 Week 10 Methodist W, 44-21
Passing Touchdowns | Single Game (4+)
| Player (School) | TD | DATE | OPPONENT | RESULT |
| Ethan Beamish (Brevard) | 5 | Week 6 | at Southern Virginia | W, 55-21 |
| Ethan Beamish (Brevard) | 5 | Week 10 | Methodist | W, 44-21 |
| De’yon Cannon (Greensboro) | 4 | Week 5 | Southern Virginia | W, 42-23 |
| Ethan Beamish (Brevard) | 4 | Week 7 | Greensboro | W, 42-9 |
| Ethan Beamish (Brevard) | 4 | Week 4 | Belhaven | W, 42-26 |
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