Coach Josh DeWeese has spent the last 11 seasons building the Berkshire Badgers football program into a consistent pattern: good rushing that opens up passing if needed, good special team work, and relentless defensive efforts.
Coach Josh DeWeese has spent the last 11 seasons building the Berkshire Badgers football program into a consistent pattern: good rushing that opens up passing if needed, good special team work, and relentless defensive efforts.
Friday night at Joslin Field at Ricaurte Stadium in Conneaut, the Badgers also could have added another dimension: using oars to row through a torrential rain storm which hit the Great Lakes regions. As it turned out, despite heavy rains that had a huge effect on both teams, the Badgers turned to the passing game early to open a big lead which carried them to a 51-26 victory over the Spartans.
Having a 1,000-yard rusher usually means it’s time to run the ball. The Badgers have such a player in Justin Phillips, but an ankle injury has slowed his efforts this season.
Yet once the rains slowed enough to start the game, albeit a few minutes later than planned, Berkshire caught everybody off guard as junior quarterback Sam Barcikoski dropped back on the first play of the game and found a wide-open tight end, Andrew Kimpton, on a play that covered 70 yards for a fast score.
The Spartans play very aggressively, and with a ferocious pass rush stopping the run first, nobody could come close to catching Kimpton.
After stopping the home team, in their season opener at home, on downs on their first possession thereafter, the Badgers wasted no time scoring again. Baracikoski hit Luke Stute in the back of the end zone from 10 yards out for another score. Then the slippery pigskin got into the act as well, as Conneaut lost fumbles their next two plays on offense.
Daniel Tiller and Preston Garling recovered the ball for Berkshire, junior Ayden Wiser scored on one- and eight-yard runs, and before the first period was done, the Badgers had a 30-0 lead.
Wiser scored his third touchdown of the night from three yards out with 3:51 to play before halftime for a 36-0 lead, but the Spartans, having won their season opener at Grand Valley with a monstrous second-half rally, still had much to say about the outcome.
The home team scored with eight seconds left in the first half when Develin Knapp picked off a Barcikoski pass and dashed 64 yards to paydirt.
Wiser tallied his fourth touchdown of the night late in the third quarter, Oliver Miller scored in the fourth period, and it was enough to give the Badgers a big enough lead that they could avoid Conneaut’s efforts late in the game for a repeat of the GV contest on opening night.
“This was a good game to win tonight,” Coach DeWeese said as the rains again began to flow heavily after the game ended. “We played well against a good Cuyahoga Heights team in our opener, and we played fairly well except for a five-minute stretch against Hawken last week, when they put up three quick touchdowns on us to win.
“We just are not playing complete games yet, but we’re getting there.”
This week’s contest with Trinity will be another test for the Badgers.
Berkshire ran the ball well despite problems holding onto the ball. One big factor was that they got the ball back most of the time, losing only a single fumble and the huge interception of Barcikoski by Knapp.
The Badger defense also made some big plays when needed. Beside recovering those two early fumbles, they also picked off quarterback Colby Stiltner three times.
Miller was the big runner for Berkshire, as Phillips was not needed due to the big early lead — a factor Coach DeWeese was glad for.
“We had planned on using Justin a bit more tonight to help get him beyond his ankle issues, but when we scored so early and got the big lead, we decided not to risk further problems for him,” the coach said. “We have several good players this year who can get things done well for us, so we tried to make use of them as much as we could tonight.”
Miller gained 164 yards on 17 carries, Wiser tallied his four scores in gaining 49 yards on 12 carries, and Kimpton, running counter-plays from his tight end position, moved the ball for 51 yards on seven tries while also catching three passes for 124 yards and the huge early score.
Barcikoski completed nine of 17 passes for 187 yards and two scores as Berkshire kept things interesting with multiple looks on offense.
Isaiah Boles, a sophomore tailback for Conneaut, had a big second half, gaining 154 yards on 17 carries and a pair of second-half scores. The last one came from 84 yards out as he broke over right tackle and was off to the races, but by that time, it was too late for another Spartan comeback.
