Morris, Sampey power Berwick to win over Morgan City

On a rainy Thursday night, the Berwick Panthers and Morgan City Tigers kicked off their seasons, and Berwick came away with a 30-12 win.
The game was played on a Thursday night instead of the usual Friday due to a shortage of referees. Similar to the Jamboree, rain was constant throughout the game.
On the opening kickoff the rain made its presence felt. Evan Crappell’s kick was fumbled by the Tigers and then recovered by the Panthers in Morgan City territory. The Panthers established the run early with their one-two punch of Cole Morris and Maddox Sampey.
Morris, who missed last week’s Jamboree, was back in the lineup for the season opener and made his presence felt early. After an errant snap on first down, Morris regained the yardage quickly with a 10-yard run. Sampey and Morris continued to swap carries until a holding penalty was called on the Panthers in the red zone. The holding call gave Berwick a third and 11.
Tasked with the long yardage to the sticks, coach Mike Walker dialed up a slant route to fullback Jason Matthews, who caught the ball and was tackled one yard short of the end zone. Two plays later, Morris punches the ball in for six. The two-point conversion was no good, giving the Panthers an early 6-0 lead.
Morgan City responded to the Morris touchdown with a statement. The first play from scrimmage was a 10-yard carry by junior running back Micah Wilkerson. The Tigers also seemed to take some notes from the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, running a play similar to the infamous “Tush Push,” a play similar to the traditional quarterback sneak, but three blockers line up behind the quarterback on a fourth and 1.
Despite the heavy rain, Morgan City trusted senior quarterback Thomas Mancuso to throw the ball, a risk that paid off. On third-and-long, a running Mancuso threw a 35-yard touchdown to a wide-open Lamarion Griffin. The two-point conversion failed, making it all even at 6.
It didn’t take the Panthers long to respond. Crappell, following a nice return from Carter Whipple, ran the ball 45-yards to the end zone for another Panthers touchdown, making it 12-6 after a failed two-point conversion.
This is the moment the Panthers seized control of this football game. Mancuso, following the Crappell touchdown run, threw an interception to senior linebacker Nick Wiggins. While no points were scored off this turnover, more Morgan City mistakes occurred, and the Panthers did not hesitate to take advantage of those mistakes.
The Tigers turned the ball over after their punter caught the ball with his knee down, leading to Morris’ second touchdown of the game. On Morgan City’s first drive of the second half, Mancuso fumbled on a third-down play, leading to a recovery by senior Dylan Armond. The recovery led to Morris’ third and final touchdown of the game.
The Tigers were not the only team having issues with the weather. While the Panthers had a lot of success running the ball in this game, they had their fair share of fumbles. Following his first touchdown of the season, Sampey fumbled on the next drive leading to a 50-yard Morgan City scoop-and-score touchdown by sophomore linebacker Muntrell Webb. Following the scoop-and-score, Berwick fumbled again, this time by Morris.
Morgan City would actually fumble a few plays after this, but on the return, Berwick defensive back Reese Leonard also fumbled, leading to a Morgan City recovery deep in Panther territory. The final two drives of the game were more fumbles, one from Berwick and then one from Morgan City.
“I thought we played well, happy with the win,” Walker said after the game. “Lot of things to clean up, but happy to be 1-0.”
Berwick stats
Passing – Crappell 2-2, 32 yards
Rushing – Sampey 14-76 TD, Crappell 7-62 TD, Morris 16-59 3 TD
Receiving – Matthews 2-32
Defense – Pratt 3 TFL, Wiggins 9 TOT tackles 1 TFL 1 INT 1 FR 1 FF, Jones 3 TFL 1 Sack
Next week the Berwick Panthers will face off against the Kaplan Pirates at home. Morgan City will take on Slaughter Charter in their home opener.