Patterson, Berwick meet with playoff berths at stake

Berwick and Patterson both need a win Friday to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Both teams are coming off losses last week. Berwick’s upset bid against Kaplan came up short 38-33, while Patterson was dominated by Abbeville 41-19.
Trailing 38-33 with 2:30 remaining after a Kaplan score to retake the lead in a back-and-fourth district contest, Berwick’s offense regained possession at its own 45-yard line. The Panthers (2-5, 0-2 District 8-3A) recorded at first down on an 11-yard run by Josh Jones, and later, facing a fourth-down-and-1 situation at the Kaplan 35, Berwick quarterback Mitchell Sanford completed a 26-yard pass to Barrett Hover for a first-and-goal situation at the Kaplan 9.
Sanford ran for a yard on first-down, threw incomplete on second down, and Kaplan clinched the game on third down, intercepting Sanford’s pass.
“I think our team has responded well this week in practice,” Berwick Coach Mike Walker said. “We are a handful of plays from flipping our record. We just have to take of business these last few weeks and see what happens moving forward.”
Sanford has completed 75-of-142 passes for 1,051 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions.
His top receivers are Barrett Hover with 33 catches for 539 yards with five touchdowns and Keyon Singleton with nine catches for 167 yards and two scores. Hunter Landry has 15 receptions for 164 yards, too.
Jones leads the ground game with 129 carries for 1,008 yards and 13 touchdowns.
“Defensively we have to limit No. 6 (Dajon Richard),” Walker said. “He’s a dynamic player with the ball, so we have to corral him and gang tackle.”
Richard continues to put up big numbers, but Patterson’s miscues have crippled the ’Jack’s offense.
Patterson (1-6, 0-2), losers of six games in a row, have battled turnovers and penalties all season. The Lumberjacks turned the ball over on four consecutive possessions that Abbeville converted into touchdowns and a 27-0 lead with 10:44 remaining in the second quarter.
“It’s the same old thing with the turnovers,” Patterson Coach Don Jones said after the game. “We come up here and we work Saturday and Sunday and we try to give them a great game plan, and I thought we had one this week. We started James Butler at quarterback, and we were going to run a lot of option with Dajon (Richard), but Butler got hurt and that threw that out the window.”
Richard led Lumberjacks with 32 carries for 264 yards and two touchdowns. This season, the senior has 165 carries for 1,351 yards and 16 touchdowns. He averages 193 yards per game on the ground.
Butler also has carried 46 times for 257 yards.
Randy Paul has completed 40-of-77 passes for 522 yards with four touchdowns and six interceptions. His top targets are Richard (16 catches for 214 yards and two scores), Irvin Celestine (11 catches for 189 and two touchdowns) and Kai Schexnayder (eight catches for 126 yards and a score).
Patterson’s defense will have its focus on Sanford, Hover and Jones.
“We have to stop Josh Jones, who’s an outstanding runner, and Mitchell gets the ball out of his hands so quick and he runs that read-option very well,” Jones said.
Jones said, “Hover will hurt you if you lose track of him.”
But Jones says it’s the turnovers that will decide the game for the Jacks.
“We have to play mistake-free football, and we (can) play with anyone, but there’s excitement in the air with the cool air, Berwick coming to town and the rivalry,” Jones said.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Sugar Dome.