Berwick pulls away from South Terrebonne for 49-28 win

In the Berwick High Panthers’ week two contest win against Northwest High School, it was quarterback Mitchell Sanford and Josh Carver who put on a big show.
Friday night in Berwick against South Terrebonne, Sanford again shined with five touchdown passes, but running back Josh Jones made a much bigger dent in the stat sheet with 251 yards rushing on 20 carries and two touchdowns en route to as Berwick pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 49-28 victory against the Class 4A foe.
Berwick led just 35-28 one play into the fourth quarter after South Terrebonne concluded a 22-play, 80-yard drive with a Donald Dardar 3-yard touchdown run that consumed virtually all of the third quarter.
Berwick countered with touchdowns on two straight drives and Sanford connected with Carver on a 5-yard completion with 9:07 remaining, and Jones broke a 63-yard run with 5:46 left in the game for the eventual 49-20 win. Seth Canty was perfect on the two extra point attempts and finished the night 7-for-7 in point-after attempts.
“We knew they would run the clock to score, and when they ran the clock in the third and they used up pretty much almost the third quarter, I knew at that point, because we were two touchdowns up, I knew at that point they were their own worst enemy at that point, because I knew we could score,” Berwick Head Coach Eric Holden said.
Early on, Berwick scored on its first drive when Jones rushed for a 6-yard touchdown with 10:16 remaining in the opening quarter.
South Terrebonne tied the score almost five minutes later when Logan Melancon scored on a 3-yard run and Nicholas Brunet’s extra point with 5:36 left in the opening quarter for a 7-all game.
Berwick retook the lead at 14-7 on a three-play, 46-yard drive capped by a 23-yard touchdown pass from Sanford to Carver with 2:37 left in the first quarter for a 14-7 lead, but South Terrebonne came right back with a three-play, 79-yard drive capped by a 65-yard pass play when South Terrebonne quarterback Andre Blanchard found Johnathan Smith behind the Berwick defense to tie the score at 14 with 1:22 left in the first quarter.
The teams traded touchdowns early in the second quarter as Sanford hit Kenan Jones for a 45-yard touchdown completion for a 21-14 Berwick lead, while on the first offensive play of South Terrebonne’s next drive, Terrance Sims took a handoff, got to the outside and sprinted down the South Terrebonne sideline for a 68-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 21-all with 11:24 remaining.
Berwick capped its first-half scoring with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Sanford to Carver with 4:42 remaining for a 28-21 Berwick lead.
The Panthers extended their lead to 35-21 on their first offensive play of the third quarter when Sanford hooked up with Travis Whitehead for a 49-yard touchdown completion.
“We were back and forth in the first half, and we went in the locker room and we were like ‘we just got to get it together and play our ball … and just do what we do,’” said Sanford, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard passing mark Friday and has thrown 12 touchdowns in the past two games.
Berwick totaled 523 yards of offense (276 rushing and 247 passing).
Sanford completed 11 of 20 passes for 247 yards with five touchdowns and one interception.
Carver was his leading receiver with six catches for 88 yards and three touchdowns, while Kenan Jones caught three passes for 88 yards and a touchdown. Whitehead added two receptions for 71 yards and a score.
Defensively, Berwick surrendered 365 yards of offense (256 rushing and 109 passing).
“South Terrebonne, up front, did a great job,” Holden said. “Our guys, we had to make some in the second half (and we) made those adjustments, made a couple of personnel adjustments as well, and we slowed them down and we did our job.”
Sims led the Gators with 14 carries for 151 yards and a touchdown, while Melancon rushed 11 times for 56 yards and one score and Dardar added a carry for a 3-yard touchdown.
Blanchard completed 4 of 12 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown, while Smith led the receivers with two catches for 74 yards and a score.
Berwick (3-0) will return to action Friday when it hosts Isidore Newman in a 7 p.m. contest.
“It doesn’t matter if we win by 40, we’re getting better,” Sanford said. “If we get better, then that’s it. We’re going to go to practice, and we’re going to go full force, and what happens, happens.”