With identical 0-2 records, the Cardinal Huskies and Berkshire Badgers came Friday night's neighborhood battle for the Kinsman Cup on Sept. 5 seeking that elusive first win.
Game photos click here.
With identical 0-2 records, the Cardinal Huskies and Berkshire Badgers came Friday night’s neighborhood battle for the Kinsman Cup on Sept. 5 seeking that elusive first win.
Their first two weeks had been very different, though.
One regular factor for both teams has been effort, but in this tilt, the Badgers had a huge edge in bodies in uniform, and it paid handsome dividends early and often as Berkshire claimed a 48-0 victory.
On the first play from scrimmage, Berkshire tailback Oliver Miller took a handoff from Sam Barcikoski and dashed around right end to outrun the Huskies defenders for a 48-yard score and quick lead.
Coming into the contest with only 19 players on the roster and 16 in uniform were the Huskies, and it was a telltale sign of what was to come for them. Early offenses went backward under swarms of dark-jerseyed Badger players who’d suffered two losses to powerhouses Harvey and Hawken. They sensed a chance to win and took full advantage of it.
Kicker Roman Percic became the early dominant player for Berkshire by sending kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. A mishandled snap on fourth down set up the Badgers at the Cardinal 17 yard line. A sack of quarterback Barcikoski by Matt Canfield set the ball back to the 27, but Ayden Wiser quickly stopped any ideas in the visitors’ heads by taking a handoff around left end, breaking a pair of tackles to reach the end zone.
Miller took his second carry of the night on the next Badger possession toward right tackle, cut back inside, and raced down the middle of the field to score again. Nate Fultz capped another short drive and scored from the 8 yard line with 1:24 left in the first period.
Early in the second period, Brice Walker broke a 75-yard scoring run, but with a running clock now in play, both team showed there was no quit by anybody in this game.
The defenses took over. Berkshire dominated most of the way, but the Huskies did show brief signs of success, which please both coaches.
“We knew it would be a tough night,” Cardinal Head Coach Keith Fife said. “It’s been a rough start for us. We know we are outmanned every time we take the field, but I am so proud of how we hustled and played hard tonight. This is our biggest rivalry game, but we never gave up or quit.
“As our program grows, things will be much better for us soon.”
Berkshire’s defense held the Huskies to just 28 yard of offense on 41 plays, but in a positive period for the Huskies, after run after run being stuffed for losses, Cardinal took to the airwaves and nearly made some big plays to get back into the game.
Still, the contest ended with D.J. Ashba picking off a Jaiden Fix pass with no time left on the clock at his own 2 yard line and dashing all the way back to a touchdown to tie the school record for an interception return and the final score.
“This was really special for our younger kids tonight,” Berkshire Head Coach Josh DeWeese said. “Making the big plays early gave us a chance to get the kids into the game earlier than we expected, but it is so motivating for them to get a chance to play under the lights; it will push them to work harder to get onto the field.
“I was really glad to be able to get all but three kids into the game in the first half, and all the kids played in the second half. You have to credit the Cardinal kids for playing hard all the way, too. When they called timeout with four seconds left in the game, it showed they were still trying their best. We did, too, and Ashba’s return was icing on the cake.”
Numbers don’t tell the entire story. Berkshire gained just 180 yards of total offense, led by the 81 yards from Miller on those two carries, and 77 more from Brice Walker.
Barcikoski didn’t throw a pass, and the younger players who got time on the turf had moments both good and tough, but it all ended well for them.
On this Hall of Fame induction night for Berkshire athletics — honoring Bob Hornak (1959), Bill Hess (1983), Mark Dingman (1990), Tony Garcia (1996) and the Epprecht family (John 1972, Heidi 1975, and Kurt 1985) — getting that first win was big.
The Huskies will catch up soon, though, simply because they kept getting up every time they were knocked down in this game.
