Berrien earns 1st state win in 31 years

Published 12:00 pm Sunday, November 13, 2022

COLUMBUS — Offensive miscues early on contributed to the Berrien High Rebels falling into a 13-0 hole against the Spencer Greenwave Owls Friday night, Nov. 11, in the first round of the Class AA football playoffs. Defensive awareness, however, put the Rebels back into the game and helped lead to a 43-36 victory. Berrien travels to Blackshear Nov. 18 to face No. 6 ranked Pierce County Bears.

The victory in the state tournament is only the second in history for Berrien, which opened as a consolidated high school in 1954. Their previous victory was back in 1991, when they defeated Seminole County.

Berrien is the lone No. 4 seed to survive the first round in Class AA. Pierce County is the No. 2 seed from Region 3-AA. The Bears’ only loss was 28-17 to Appling County in the middle of the season.

On the first play of the 2nd quarter Josiah Davis scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns in the game. Davis’ 6-yard run with Matthew Lopez’s kick brought Berrien to within 13-7. Spencer scored again on their next series, but the try for two failed, leaving the Greenwave Owls up 19-7.

After a Hayden Futch punt hemmed Spencer in at their own 3, they promptly fumbled on the first play. Taking over at the Greenwave Owl 6, Berrien scored on Demar Riley’s 1 yard run. Lopez’s kick made it 19-14.

Berrien’s defense caused a 3-and-out on the next series, and the Rebels launched a 10-play, 72-yard drive to take the lead for the first time. Davis scored his second touchdown on a 3-yard run with 2:34 before halftime. The PAT kick gave Berrien a 21-19 advantage, but Spencer came right back to reclaim the lead, 26-21, on a 33-yard pass with 1:13 to go.

Within a span of just over a minute and a half in the 3rd quarter the Rebel defense took Berrien from down 5 to up 9. Dontravious White had a 60 yard interception return for a touchdown at the 10:37 mark, and then Jamon Robinson picked up a lateral lying on the ground and sped 45 yards to the endzone at 8:59, and suddenly Berrien had a 35-26 advantage.

Spencer cut into the lead with a 23 yard field goal after an 11-play drive. After an exchange of punts, the Greenwave Owls benefited from a Berrien fumble that put them in business at midfield. It only took only play — a 50 yard pass — and Spencer was in front again, 36-35, with 0:33 to go in the 3rd.

After the teams exchanged four punts in the 4th quarter, Berrien got the ball back with just over 4 minutes remaining in the game. A revived and refreshed Davis broke off runs of 25 and 3 yards. Riley rushed for 3 more, and then Davis got loose on a 26 yard scamper to the endzone with 2:21 to go. Davis then ran for the 2-point conversion, and the Rebels had a 43-36 lead and 141 ticks of the clock left before advancing to the 2nd round of the state playoffs for only the second time in school history.

As they had done all night, the Greenwave Owls then took to the air trying for a last ditch score. In fact, Spencer did not attempt a single rush on their final drive. Facing 4th and 20 on their own 37 with 46 seconds remaining, Spencer went to the air again. This time, though, Berrien’s Jacolby Allen made a well-timed play on the ball, intercepting the pass and securing a Rebel victory.

Berrien is now 7-4 on the season and continues to see records fall during 2022. This is Berrien’s first 7-win season since 1993. The game was the Rebels’ fifth road win of the year, breaking the old record of 4 set on four occasions. Berrien’s 359 total points and 217 points on the road are also new school records.