Berwick tops MCHS behind solid defense

Berwick High School is known for its prolific offense, but Friday night, its defense stole the show in a 34-13 victory against Morgan City High School at Tiger Stadium.
While Berwick raced out to a 34-0 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter, its defense surrendered no play of more than 10 yards in the same period of time.
Morgan City recorded its longest play of the night on the first play after Berwick’s final touchdown when Isaiah Escort connected with Logan Tingle for a 31-yard pass play on the first of two scoring drives for Morgan City.
In all, Berwick surrendered just 137 yards of offense (47 rushing and 90 passing).
“(Brandon) Bravata, who is my new defensive coordinator, he did an incredible job tonight. …. I couldn’t be prouder of the job he did,” Berwick Head Coach Eric Holden said.
Morgan City Coach Eric Howard said his team started out “really slow”. However, he credited Berwick for that.
“Their defense was pretty good,” he said. “They were flying around to the football, and we just didn’t make enough plays.”
Berwick offense’s offense also did its part as it churned out 407 yards of offense (154 rushing and 253 passing).
Holden said he challenged his team Friday to play better, noting he didn’t see them playing with the same passion in the jamboree this year as they had last season. He said he thought they embraced it Friday.
“We definitely were better from the jamboree,” Holden said. “Now look, we’re nowhere near being where we need to be. We left probably three touchdowns on the field, and we can’t do that against great teams. We’re going to get beat, so we’ve got to capitalize every chance we can.” Berwick started the game with a touchdown on its opening drive in which quarterback Mitchell Sanford and wide receiver Kenan Jones turned a busted play into a huge touchdown reception.
On first down from its own 41, a bad snap sailed past Sanford, who in an attempt to pick up the ball, kicked it accidentally a few times and appeared headed for a sack. However, the junior quarterback picked up the ball and found Jones open down the Morgan City sideline and connected with him. Jones did the rest, weaving through the Morgan City defense for a 59-yard touchdown reception with 9:51 remaining. Seth Canty’s extra point gave Berwick a 7-0 lead.
“I got some great athletes and great players, and they’re going to continue to make great plays, and that’s what that was: just two great players being great,” Holden said of the score.
After Berwick muffed a punt on its second possession but held Morgan City out the end zone, Berwick moved down the field for its second score, which was capped by a 16-yard reception by Collin Louviere from Sanford with 1:46 remaining. Canty’s extra point gave Berwick a 14-0 lead.
Berwick added one more touchdown late in the first half when Sanford connected with Carver on a 25-yard reception that Carver caught while barely staying in bounds for a 20-0 lead with 2:15 remaining.
“That catch in the corner, that’s an unbelievable catch,” Howard said. “We had double coverage right there, and the kid makes a play. There’s a reason those kids are good players.”
Berwick added scores on its first two possessions of the third quarter when Josh Jones reached the end zone on a two-yard run with 8:08 remaining in the third quarter, while Sanford hooked up with Kenan Jones on a 29-yard reception with 3:29 left in the quarter for a 34-0 lead following Canty’s extra point.
Morgan City scored twice to end the game, both times on connections from Escort to Deondre Grogan.
After Tingle’s 31 yard reception and a pass interference penalty that moved the Tigers to the Berwick 10, four plays later, Escort and Grogan hooked up on a 9-yard reception. Tristin McCullough’s extra point with 36.5 seconds remaining made the score 34-7.
Later in the fourth quarter, Morgan City’s final score was set up by a nice return by Kerwin Francois to the Berwick 16 with 3:08 remaining.
Two plays later, Escort hit Grogan for a 16-yard touchdown reception with 2:31 remaining. Morgan City’s two-point conversion pass failed for the final margin.
“Our kids played hard. We just didn’t make enough plays,” Howard said. “Had a couple of crazy things happen to us early in the game, and we just couldn’t recover.”
Escort played in relief of starting quarterback Alex Brocato, who was ejected in the second quarter after officials said he took his helmet off after carrying the ball and threw it at a Berwick defender. Berwick was flagged for a personal foul on the play, too.
Morgan City will return to action Friday when it travels to face Hanson Memorial in Franklin at 7 p.m., while Berwick will host Northwest in a 7 p.m. contest.