The Berkshire Badgers’ football team closed out the regular season with an emphatic statement, shutting out Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division and Geauga County rival Chagrin Falls 34-0 with a dominant second half last Friday evening at C.S. Harris Stadium in Chagrin Falls.
“It was a very tight first half,” said Coach Josh DeWeese. “The guys responded to what we challenged them to do, and they came out and fought and finished the right way with power football.”
The victory not only guaranteed another winning season for the Badgers (6-4, 4-1) but also sends Berkshire into the High School Athletic Association Division V Region 17 postseason with a three-game winning streak to end the regular season.
Berkshire will hit the road as the ninth seed and take on South Range at Rominger Stadium in Beaver Township in the first round of the OHSAA Division V Region 17 postseason on Friday at 7 p.m.
On Friday, the Badgers were clinging to a 7-0 lead in the third quarter. After striking first with a 5-yard touchdown run by junior tailback/defensive back Oliver Miller in the first period, the offenses stalled throughout the rest of the first half as each team’s momentum was halted by costly penalties.
In addition to there being sloppy offensive play, the rivalry between the teams was evident as there were several personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the first half because of some heated altercations.
The 13th-year coach acknowledged that his team let their emotions get the best of them at several points in the first half.
“I don’t have a place for the side stuff, that drives me nuts,” he said. “We try to play cleaner than that but on Friday night I was not happy to see that.”
Defense continued to be the name of the game in the third period as the Tigers backed Berkshire to its’ 1 on a deep punt but the senior quarterback/linebacker Sam Barcikoski the Badgers’ poor field position by turning a simple quarterback draw into a 72-yard run, putting the Badgers at the Chagrin Falls’ 27.
“We were calling for two yards to get some room and Sam comes out on the right side to get some room and gets 72 yards,” noted DeWeese. “That was a huge play. That was the ballgame, that switched all the momentum.”
Berkshire’s rushing attack continued to wear down the Tigers, as the 5-foot-8 Miller scored on a 4-yard touchdown run, followed by a 44-yard touchdown run by senior tailback/defensive back Sam Bable to push the Badgers ahead 20-0 after they attempted a two-point conversion but came up short.
The Badgers continued to roll in the fourth period, adding two more touchdowns as senior offensive lineman/defensive end Danny Tiller powered his way into the end zone on a 2-yard touchdown run and Miller scored his third touchdown of the game on a one-yard run, stretching the Badgers’ lead to 34-0 to trigger the running clock throughout the rest of the fourth period.
Miller said that once Berkshire stopped getting in its own way, the game was theirs for the taking.
“We were beating ourselves,” he said. “We have good coaches that talk to us and good play calls and we just worked as a team.”
Miller recorded 129 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries while also tallying 35 yards on five receptions.
“The last few weeks he has been doing that,” DeWeese said. “That’s the player he is. He is a great athlete, and he guides the defense. In week nine, he had 14 tackles. He does everything.”
After getting off to a slow start at the beginning of the season with a 2-3 record in non-conference play, the Badgers changed their fortunes with stellar play in the CVC Valley Division, posting a 4-1 record to finish as runners-up and earn a playoff berth for the second consecutive year.
“We started off a little bit rocky,” the 6-foot-1 Barcikoski added. “We win as a team, and we lose as a team, and we knew we needed to step up. Don’t do it for yourself but do it for your teammate.”
As far as DeWeese is concerned, Berkshire still has not reached its full potential yet despite ending the season on a roll by stringing three consecutive victories together.
“With a new defense and a new offensive coordinator, it took us a minute to get our stride but they are really playing team football on both sides of the ball right now, so we are really starting to click and it feels good,” noted DeWeese.
