Berwick Panthers looking for second straight win

By CORWIN MURRAY

BERWICK — The Berwick Panthers look to win their second straight game when Jeanerette comes to town Friday.

The Panthers (1-3) picked up their first win of the season with a 7-0 homecoming victory against the KIPP Renaissance last week. The victory marked not only Berwick’s first win of the season but its first win since snapping a 20-game losing streak in October 2012. Prior to last week’s win, Berwick had lost six straight, dating back to last season.

“The homecoming victory should give the team confidence going into (this) week,” Berwick head coach Craig Brodie said. “I think this should have happened a lot earlier.

“The first two games of the year we were down by a point at halftime, and we didn’t finish the games,” Brodie added.

While BHS got the win, Brodie continued to stress hard work and execution in practice this week.

“We still struggled offensively,” the third-year coach said. “We got stopped on fourth down, and we didn’t finish drives. That’s what we worked on this week because when you get into scoring territory, you have to score.”

In addition to the three fourth-downs the Panthers failed to convert, they also had a punt blocked in the fourth quarter.

Berwick started the game with two turnovers on downs after going for it on 4-and-12 and 4-and-8. On its third possession, however, the Panthers drove 65 yards, scoring on a 3-yard run by quarterback Bobby Boudreaux with 28 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Brooks Richard added the extra point for what turned out to be the end of the game’s scoring.

Boudreaux, the senior signal caller, has carried 62 times for 253 yards and 3 touchdowns this season. He also has completed 19-of-50 passes for 274 yards with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.

During last week’s win, Berwick had 192 total yards, 169 rushing yards and 23 yards passing. The Panthers offense, however, completed just 2-of-11 pass attempts.

Richard led the team in rushing with 66 yards on five carries, including runs of 46 and 20 yards. He has carried 17 times for 246 yards and two touchdowns this season, while Justin Morvant has 20 carries for 135 yards.

Defensively, Berwick played pretty well.

“We tackled better, and we carried out our assignments better,” Brodie said. “We’ve worked on that all season. I was happy with the effort. No one can tell me the last time we had a shutout around here.”

Jeanerette (1-3) lost to McMain, 56-6, Friday. The Tigers have been outscored 170-34 this season.

“They are a very young team,” Brodie said. “They play a lot of ninth and even some eighth grade kids.”

Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.