2 weeks Ago
Berkeley High School quarterback Henry Rivers threw four touchdown passes in the first half and the Stags offense did whatever it wanted in a 43-7 victory over the visiting St. James Sharks Wednesday, Sept. 25, in a non-region clash moved up two days to beat possible impacts from Hurricane Helene.
“I thought we came out and executed pretty well,” said Berkeley coach Eric Lodge. “We scored two touchdowns on the first four plays. Athletically, they had a really hard time matching up with us.
” Berkeley (2-3) produced all of its points in the opening two quarters and the second half versus the winless Sharks (0-5) was played under a running clock. Rivers connected with receiver Kevin Boone from 41, 35 and 22 yards out for scores in the opening quarter to push Berkeley out to a 22-0 lead. The Stags kept pouring it on in the second quarter, getting a 59-yard touchdown scamper from Jvaariez Sumpter and 22-yard scoring strike from Rivers to receiver Kayden Bash on their next two drives.
The final tally of the night came from Berkeley’s special teams. Johoava Williams blocked a punt inside the St. James 10 and returned it six yards for a score to make it 43-0 with 4:43 remaining in the first half.
St. James avoided becoming a shutout victim on a short touchdown pass with less than five minutes left in the game. While the final score looks impressive, Lodge said his team need not get too comfortable with defending region champion Stratford High School rolling into town Friday, Oct.
4, for the Region 7-5A opener for both teams. “I told the boys after the game the score is maybe not indicative of the work we put in for the week,” Lodge said. “I thought we had two pretty poor practices leading up to this, and then you come out and the scoreboard looks the way it does.
You can’t really put too much stock into it. We strive to be the best version of ourselves every day and later on down the road maybe some of the things we did during the week will get us beat.” Williams and Chamberlin Thompson recorded interceptions for the Stags defense, which was a few minutes away from posting its second straight shutout before St.
James punched one in against Berkeley’s backups. “Obviously, you’d like for the scoreboard to have a zero on it at the end,” Lodge said, “but we got some guys some valuable playing time and some teach tape there at the end. Those guys deserve to be out there, too.
” Stratford improved to 2-3 with a 41-14 win at Colleton County in a non-region contest also moved up two days. The Knights coasted past Berkeley, 34-7, in 2023. The win was the second in three meetings for Stratford.
Berkeley won five straight from 2016-20, though. “They’re very well-coached and have a great quarterback,” Lodge said of the Knights. “They’ve got great athletes.
A good O-Line and good running back. Their defense plays hard. It will be a challenge.
Those guys won the region last year for a reason. We’ll see how much progress we’ve made during our offseason.” Lodge praised the big boys up front for moving defenses around.
The group has been able to open up holes for backs to run through and give Rivers time to heave it downfield. "I think the whole offensive line has done a great job," Lodge said. "They've really stepped up in a big way.
We've been able to run the ball for the majority of the year. We knew we were going to have a tough passing attack with Rivers and our receivers. The way we've been able to run the ball effectively is huge.
I attribute that to the OL and them locking up and blocking the right guys." Today's Top Headlines Story continues below Disabled vet with nearly half-million-dollar salary told VA he was jobless. Now he has to repay $300K.
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Should they help pay for it? These Myrtle Beach tiny homes are supposed to house homeless veterans. Why are they empty? That group is left tackle Zion Britt, left guards Antone Gibbs-Averett and Denzel Reid, center Jaden Berkley, right guard Khanir Coleman and right tackle Hunter Drawdy. "Britt and Drawdy set the tone every day," Lodge said.
"They're tough football players." Stratford 41, Colleton County 14 Stratford quarterback Jachin Davis threw for 253 yards and four touchdowns for the Knights, connecting with receiver J.Q.
Crosby on three of the scores. Davis also scored on two short touchdown runs. Crosby grabbed six passes for 173 yards.
Jayden Lee hauled in the other touchdown pass from Davis. The Knights ran for 183 yards, led by Francis Lloyd with 73 yards. On defense, linebacker Darrell Holmes made 10 total tackles and defensive back Trenton Fordham picked off a pass.
Hanahan 29, Andrews 28 Hanahan improved to 3-3 overall with a one-point win over visiting Andrews Sept. 25 at Wiley Knight Stadium. Hanahan running back Travis Neal carried 16 times for 84 yards and scored on runs of 5 and 15 yards.
Hawks quarterback Tripp Gallus threw for 97 yards and hooked up with receiver Dru Goldsmith on a 33-yard touchdown pass. Tre Shepard added a rushing touchdown for the Hawks. Andrews dropped to 4-1.
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