Jones runs for 400-plus yards, 4 TDs in Berwick upset

Berwick High School running back Josh Jones said after Friday’s game that he didn’t see anything unique on film study to predict the career night that he would have Friday.
After rushing 30 times for 417 yards and four scores in a 38-24 upset of Class 2A No. 10-ranked Ascension Blue Gators (4-1), he said a lot of it had to do with trust.
“I just watched film, and then I trusted God that he’s going to help me find the right holes and trust the O-Line and just let me rely on my God-given talents,” Jones said.
The talented Jones spearheaded Berwick’s offensive attack, which totaled 594 yards of offense (463 rushing and 131 passing).
To put the night of Jones in perspective, he had a hand in 467 of the Panthers’ total yards as he also caught two passes for 50 yards. He had a fifth touchdown, this one on a screen pass, called back due to a holding penalty.
Berwick Coach Mike Walker said that the game plan all week was to run the ball right at Ascension Episcopal.
“We didn’t think that they could matchup with us up front, physically, and it showed,” Walker said. “Josh had a hell of a game running the football, but our offensive line did a great job of opening up some gaping holes. I mean it was home run, home run, home run, home run, so kudos to Josh and kudos to our offensive line. They did an outstanding job.”
While Berwick (2-3) surrendered plenty of yards on defense, the Panthers made some key stops, too.
According to Berwick High stats, the squad was led by middle linebacker, senior Rustin Ratcliff, who had 15 tackles, one tackle for loss and one pass break up.
“We’re far from perfect,” Walker said of his defense. “There were times where we bent, but we didn’t break. (We) made them kick some field goals, which they missed a couple of field goals. When we’re in the rhythm like we were tonight, it’s hard to match us touchdown for touchdown, so (if) we can make people kick field goals and end drives in kicks, whether it be a punt of a field goal, I think we we’ll have a chance to be successful.”
Ascension Episcopal’s offense was spearheaded by running back Jhalen Brown, who rushed 29 times for 187 yards and three score.
Ascension Episcopal totaled 445 yards of offense (255 rushing and 190 passing).
Quarterback Cole Simon completed 10 of 28 passes for 190 yards.
While the game was tied once at 7-all, Berwick never trailed.
The Panthers took a 7-0 with 4:40 left in the first quarter on quarterback Mitchell Sanford’s 26-yard pass to Barrett Hover. Seth Canty, who was 5-for-5 on point-after attempts and 1-for-3 on field goals, made his first point-after attempt of the night.
Ascension Episcopal responded in the second quarter when Brown crossed the goal line on a 5-yard run with 8:15 remaining in the first half. Drake Lee tied the game at 7 with the point-after attempt.
Berwick needed just two offensive plays to respond as Jones broke a 72-yard scoring run on the second play from scrimmage with 7:19 left in the half for a 14-7 lead.
Ascension Episcopal responded with a 27-yard field goal by Lee to cut the Blue Gators’ deficit to 14-10 at the 5:12 mark, while Canty followed with a 21-yard field goal for Berwick with 1:45 remaining in the second quarter for a 17-10 Berwick lead.
Ascension Episcopal’s onside kick attempt to start the second half was successful, but the Blue Gators got no points out of the drive as Lee’s 36-yard field goal attempt was no good.
Berwick, however, did score on its first drive as Jones rushed for a 74-yard touchdown on the second play of the Panthers’ first offensive drive of the third quarter for a 24-10 lead with 9:07 remaining in the third quarter.
Ascension Episcopal responded with a 1-yard touchdown run by Brown on its next drive to cut its deficit to 24-17 with 6:50 remaining, but Jones was up to the task of responding, this time on a 78-yard run with 5:54 to extend Berwick’s lead to 31-17.
Ascension Episcopal scored its final touchdown on a 22-yard run by Brown with 2:58 remaining in the third quarter to cut its deficit to 31-24.
Berwick closed the night’s scoring with one more touchdown with 2 minutes remaining on a 46-yard run by Jones, which put him over the 400-yard rushing mark.
“I thought our coaching staff did a great job at halftime making some key adjustments, defensively, (to) kind of limit what they did running the football, but man, huge win for our program, getting ready to move into district play (to) get in the right side of the win column for the first time in three weeks,” Walker said. “I think it’s huge for our kids’ confidence. I think we’re a dangerous team in our district when we start playing well.”
Sanford completed 8 of 13 passes for 131 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed eight times for 46 yards.
Hover led Berwick’s receivers with four catches for 44 yards and a score, while Hunter Landry had two receptions for 40 yards.
Berwick will start district play Friday when it hosts Erath at 7 p.m.