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Beaufort High's season ends (WITH VIDEO)
Berkeley KOs Beaufort High in first round of playoffs
bparker@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5536
Everything around the Beaufort High School football team told the story of a season still bursting with life.
One and done
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The band was marching to its tune, fans mingled with one another and an energetic group of players shouted and danced near the 30-yard-line.
It was only in that circle of Eagles, where coach Mark Clifford barely spoke above a whisper to his despondent squad, that the chilling vibe of a broken season was evident.
In the 48 minutes prior to this scene, that same energetic group in Berkeley High School had rushed for 342 yards, taking advantage of a sputtering Beaufort offense that turned the ball over four times to secure a 17-7 upset of the No. 6 Eagles during Friday's first round of the Class 4-A Division II playoffs.
But in Clifford's mind, it was what happened two weeks ago that opened the door for this disappointing end.
"I think it wasn't tonight," said Clifford, whose Eagles had never lost three in a row under him until this season's end. "I think I didn't do a very good job of bringing them back after the Summerville game. ... Going that long without a loss and with that (Summerville) game being so big, I don't think we ever really came back.
"All we needed was a Goose Creek win (last week) or a win tonight. I thought we were going to get it back tonight."
Yet like that fateful Summerville loss, the Eagles appeared to lose control before they even had a chance to seize it.
The Stags opened the game with first-down runs on four of their first nine plays, marching 64 yards downfield before settling for a 31-yard field goal. Then, in a cruel twist of deja vu, Beaufort's Antwan Smalls fumbled the ensuing kickoff, giving Berkeley possession in Eagle territory, just like Summerville did two weeks earlier.
After a missed Berkeley field goal, Beaufort (9-3) again found itself going in reverse, gaining two yards on a three-and-out series.
Meanwhile, the Stags' success with pitch and option runs continued, as Beaufort's defense failed to cut off tailback Bruce Ellington and quarterback Pernell Irving on the perimeter. The drive ended with Irving exploding 12 yards to put Berkeley up 10-0 with 3:29 left in the first period.
"We had one play, a midline pitch, that was working really well for us, so we kept going back to it," said Berkeley coach Jerry Brown, whose 8-4 team will face No. 3 seed South Pointe next Friday. "We were able to get some good gains and get off to a fast start."
Still, the Eagles responded, finding success behind the power running of Andre Carpenter that pushed them into the red zone. And after Carpenter burst through the line for 18 of his 93 yards, the senior punched in the score from one yard out to cut the deficit to 10-7 midway through the second quarter.
But that was about all Beaufort could muster out of its offense by night's end. The Eagles converted just five first downs in the next 27 minutes, twice coming up a yard short on fourth down.
"Early in the season, we were a fourth-down team; we made them," Clifford said, "and late in the season, we didn't."
Beaufort had stopped Ellington in their meeting earlier this season as well, holding the junior to 61 yards. But Ellington surpassed that with one carry Friday as he raced 64 yards for a touchdown near the end of the first half, making for the bulk of his 152-yard output.
Defense ruled a scoreless second half, with the Eagles stopping Berkeley on four of its five tries on third down and the Stags adding to Beaufort's offensive woes by snagging three interceptions.
"Their defense wanted it more than us," said Beaufort quarterback Blake Gruel. "It was a bad night for nothing to work our way. They were playing defense pretty good and we didn't step up like we should have."
It made for a bizarre end to a Beaufort season that had sprouted early with such promise during a 9-0 start, only to come crashing down in an unexpected three-game slide.
"It's unexplainable," Gruel said. "I guess we weren't used to losing and we never came back to our peak. It was a good nine-game win streak but a bad way to end my high school career."
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total |
| Berkeley | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Beaufort | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
First Quarter
Berk.--FG Patrick Jackson 31, 9:15.
Berk.--Pernell Irving 12 run (Jackson kick), 3:29.
Second Quarter
Beau.--Andre Carpenter 1 run (Owen Plair kick), 8:53.
Berk.--Bruce Ellington 64 run (Jackson kick), 1:18.
| BERKELEY | BEAUFORT | |
| First downs | 13 | 13 |
| Rush | 12 | 10 |
| Pass | 1 | 3 |
| Pen. | 0 | 0 |
| Rushes-yards | 42-342 | 39-148 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 4-10-0 | 7-12-3 |
| Passing yards | 21 | 63 |
| Return yards | 31 | 18 |
| Punts | 2-29.0 | 3-27.3 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-0 | 1-1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 7-50 | 4-30 |
| Third-down conv. | 4-13 | 4-12 |
| Fourth-down conv. | 1-3 | 0-2 |
| Time of Possession | 23:19 | 24:41 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Berkeley, Bruce Ellington 8-152, Pernell Irving 16-104, Dante Richardson 11-44, Rahkeem White 4-29, R.J. Robinson 3-13. Beaufort, Andre Carpenter 18-93, Brad Gonzalez 13-57, Devonte Cohen 3-7, Josh McPherson 2-5, Blake Gruel 3-(-14).
PASSING--Berkeley, Irving 4-10-0-21. Beaufort, Gruel 7-12-3-63.
RECEIVING--Berkeley, Robinson 2-18, Ellington 2-3. Beaufort, Michael Ginn 3-31, Tray Nichols 2-17, Gonzalez 2-15.
MISSED FIELD GOALS--Berkeley, Patrick Jackson 40 (wide right), 29 (wide left), 34 (blocked).
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