It was a roller coaster season for all Berkshire students as they moved into a brand new palace building.
Game photos click here.
It was a roller coaster season for all Berkshire students as they moved into a brand new palace building.
For athletes preparing to compete at the new site, keeping focused on the task at hand in every sport was not easy for these young people. But the Badgers football team met high expectations with a 7-3 season, winning their first division title since 2005 and reaching playoff action again.
Still, in Great Lakes Cheese Stadium’s first playoff game, against playoff-tested West Lafayette Ridgewood, a decided edge in size along the line of scrimmage for the Generals proved to be too much for the young Badgers to handle. Ridgewood claimed victory, 21-0, ending Berkshire’s sweet and memorable season.
Berkshire hung its hat on speed at key positions on both sides of the ball all season long. Quarterback Miles Miller, who returns next year with a huge resume after his junior season, made his name with his legs first. On the first possession of the game, though, the other really big part of the speed package for the Badgers, Josh Brown, gained a first down on the first offensive play of the game.
On the third play, Miller was picked off by Generals linebacker Kauelen Smith, and his 23-yard return set up his team — with seven linemen listed at over 271 pounds and another six between 235 and 255 — in good field position.
Berkshire lineman Hunter Nicholson, one of the few big men for the Badgers, stuffed a fourth down run at the four yard line, and the Badgers had a huge spark to build from.
After a short punt set up Ridgewood on the Badgers 35 yard line on the next possession, the Berkshire defense stopped them on downs again, this time at the 12 yard line. A plethora of blue-clad Badgers stuffed the fourth down play.
But after a long delay, caused by a serious leg injury to one of the Generals’ big guys, a bad omen began to show itself. The big guys were able to keep Miller, Brown and the other Berkshire weapons from gaining any serious yardage, either by stuffing them inside with a huge penetration along the line of scrimmage or catching the Badgers’ jerseys with a handful and hanging on for dear life until help arrived.
Berkshire did have opportunities, but could not complete plays when needed.
Finally, with 9:46 left in the second period, Miller lost the ball and Cam Hershberger recovered for Ridgewood on his own 31 yard line. Eleven plays later, Josiah Cahill bulled his way into the end zone from seven yards out for the first points of the game.
By this time, though, Brown had gotten a hip injury that limited him the rest of the night; Miller had been slammed to the ground, putting him into concussion safety; and linebacker and tight Elijah Southern, who emerged recently as a powerful force in the game plan for coach Josh DeWeese, suffered a serious leg injury.
Thus, depth became huge the rest of the way.
“We have had a great season,” said DeWeese, himself walking with the aid of a crutch from a recent foot injury. “We’ve battled some adversity all season at times, but our kids never quit or hung their heads one time. I’m so proud of them.
“This was such a great time for them to establish themselves as people for the rest of their lives, and I can’t express how much this all means to me and to them. Ridgewood is a very good team; they did a great job of taking away our perimeter running game, and with key players down, we just weren’t strong enough to stay with them tonight.”
The Generals dominated the second half with ball control as their line took over.
Smith scored in the third period on their first possession as they took over on downs at their own 28 yard line. Berkshire opened the second half by recovering an onside kickoff as Sal Vargas recovered his own kick at the 49 yard line in Ridgewood territory.
Taking to the air, Miller still had issues getting the ball to teammates, but the effort never ceased.
The Generals drove 72 yards in 11 plays for their second score, with Smith going in from the one, and added their third score midway through the fourth period as Cahill again took the ball in, this time from 11 yards out, capping an 89 yard drive in 12 plays.
The numbers tell the whole tale.
After holding the Generals to 132 yards total offense in the first half, with Smith having only 36 tough yards on 11 carries and Cahill adding just 37 on 7 tries, both picked it up in the second half, the Badgers missing key players. Smith ended up with 91 yards on 20 carries, and Cahill gained 96 on 17 attempts. A 373-yard total offense, compared to just 85 yards for the Badgers, showed how much ball control came into the equation.
“We came into the game tonight expecting to get a really physical time,” Miller said. “We were ready, and we played with them evenly early in the game. They’re the most physical team we’ve played for sure.
“At the same time, playing with the great seniors on this team has been an honor for me, and their leadership has helped us to set up a good blueprint for success in the future here at Berkshire. It has been so great playing in this new facility with such great teammates and coaches, and we know what we need to do to get better, and we are really looking to get the process going as soon as possible.”
This is not the end to the season that the Badgers worked for. But only one team in each division ends up with a win, and the CVC provides seriously tough competition toward that goal.
The stage is set for continued growth for the Berkshire program, and the focus is in the right direction.
