Berwick rallies to top Varnado 21-20

Berwick High School used big plays in the second half to rally for a 21-20 homecoming victory against Varnado Friday.
The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Panthers, their first since an Oct. 6, 2014, victory against Franklin in Berwick.
Berwick coach Craig Brodie said this year’s team is different than teams in the past that couldn’t “pick themselves up” when things were going wrong.
“I give credit to the assistant coaches that I have and our seniors and our leaders on the team,” Brodie said. “Hopefully it’s a start of better things to come.”
Trailing 14-0 late in the third quarter, the Panthers got touchdowns on consecutive possessions as quarterback Collin Louviere connected with Audwin Williams for 44 yards and Larenz Clark for 15 yards to get the Panthers back in the game in the fourth quarter.
While Varnardo responded with a touchdown by Nick Darden to retake the lead at 20-14 late in the fourth quarter, Berwick came back when Louviere connected with Williams for a 28-yard score.
John McCorkle, who was 3-for-3 on extra point attempts, converted the final one for the final margin.
Before Berwick’s rally, Varnado had taken a 14-0 lead following Darden’s 5-yard run with 2:04 remaining in the third quarter.
The Panthers responded on their next drive with a quick four-play, 76-yard drive capped by Williams’ 44-yard touchdown reception from Louviere with 15 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The touchdown was the second big-play on the drive by the Berwick receiver, who just two plays earlier caught a 30-yard pass from Louviere to move the ball from the Berwick 25 into Varnado territory.
After Berwick (1-2) recovered a fumble on Varnado’s next possession at the Berwick 33, the Panthers soon again turned to big plays. This time, Louviere connected with Kenan Jones for a 33-yard completion on first down for a first down at the Varnado 18.
After Louviere gained three yards on first down and his second-down pass was out of the reach of Jones, Louviere connected with Larenz Clark on third down from the 15-yard line on a pass Clark hauled in while on the ground for a score.
McCorkle made the point-after attempt to tie the game at 14 with 9:23 remaining in the fourth.
Varnado (2-1) milked much of the remaining fourth quarter clock on an impressive drive that began at its own 35 and concluded on a fourth-down-and-five connection between D.J. Jefferson and Darden for a 10-yard touchdown pass in which Darden caught the ball and dove to cross the goal line for the score.
Darden’s two-point run failed, but Varnado now led 20-14.
Berwick came back on offense, though.
After getting the ball at the Varnado 47 after an onside kick attempt by the Wildcats fell dead before going 10 yards, the Panthers didn’t take long to move down the field.
After a five-yard penalty for illegal procedure on Berwick, the Panthers struck when Louviere connected with Clark for a 20-yard completion to the Varnado 32.
Three plays later, on third down from the Varnado 28, Louviere connected with Williams for a 28-yard touchdown pass with 1:30 remaining.
McCorkle’s extra point gave Berwick a 21-20 lead.
Berwick recovered the kickoff following a muff on the play by Varnado.
However, the Panthers were unable to run out the clock and punted to the Wildcats at the Berwick 25.
While Jefferson was sacked for an eight-yard loss on first down and the play clock ran out, Berwick was flagged for a personal foul, and two seconds were put back on the clock.
However, Varnado was unable to get another play off, and the ball game ended.
“We led the entire game, and then the fourth quarter, we gave up a few plays here and there, but you got to give it to them,” Varnado coach Scott Shaffett said. “They got good athletes on the other side of the ball. Those receivers are as good as anybody in the state, and that’s what we were looking to see. We were trying to caliber ourselves for the playoffs. We played up two classes, and (we were) trying to see how we are as far as getting there towards the playoffs, and I think this is a wake-up call for us (to say) ‘hey, we can be a good ball club, but we got to finish four quarters.’”
In the loss, Shaffett said his team played hard.
In the first half, the game was a defensive struggle as Berwick had opportunities with the ball in Varnado territory four times but couldn’t do anything with it.
Meanwhile, Varnado had the ball in Berwick territory twice in the first half, once on its first drive after Delrick Abrams intercepted Louviere and returned the ball to the Berwick 43 and again late in the first half after Tarralyn Moses picked off Berwick quarterback Mitchell Sanford in the Varnado end zone and returned it to the Berwick 31.
While Varnado couldn’t convert on the first drive in Berwick territory, it cashed in on the second one quickly.
On the first play following the interception return, Jefferson connected with Armontee Kemp on a 31-yard touchdown pass.
Darden’s two-point run was good for an 8-0 Varnado lead with 55 seconds remaining.
The score remained the same until late in the third quarter when Berwick fumbled and Varnado recovered at the Panther 9.
Two plays later, Darden scored on a five-yard run with 2:04 remaining.
Jefferson’s two-point pass was no good, but Varnado led 14-0.
Darden led the Varnado offensive attack with 11 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown, while he had three catches for 36 yards and a score.
Kemp added five catches for 50 yards and one touchdown.
Jefferson finished the game 10 of 14 passing for 89 yards with two touchdowns.
Varnado finished the contest with 231 yards of offense (142 rushing and 89 passing).
Louviere completed 9 of 20 passes for 202 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions for Berwick.
Williams led Berwick’s receivers with five catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns, while Clark had two catches for 35 yards and a score.
Brodie said he was proud of the big plays Clark made in the game.
“I thought Larenz did a tremendous job,” Brodie said. “He’s kind of been in the doghouse with us because he doesn’t practice to his potential. He doesn’t know how good he can be, and we encourage him a lot to keep working hard. We stay on him hard because we see how he can help this team. I’m just pointing him out because we’ve been riding him pretty hard, and he got his opportunity to show what he could do tonight.”
Berwick had 267 yards of total offense (65 rushing and 202 passing).
The Panthers will return to action Friday when they open District 8-3A play at Franklin in a 7 p.m. contest.

BHS VHS
First downs: 13 12
Rushing yards: 79 142
Passing yards: 202 89
Total yards: 281 231
A-C-HI: 24-10-3 14-10-0
Penalty-yards: 11-95 5-40
Fumbles-lost: 4-1 3-2

Score by quarter
BHS 0 0 7 14 -- 21
VHS 0 8 6 6 -- 20

Scoring summary
Second Quarter
VHS: D.J. Jefferson 31-yard pass to Armontee
Kemp. (Nick Darden run) 0:55

Third Quarter
VHS: Darden 5-yard run. (Pass failed) 2:04

BHS: Collin Louviere 44-yard pass to Audwin
Williams. (John McCorkle kick) 0:15.

Fourth Quarter
BHS: Louviere 15-yard pass to Larenz
Clark. (McCorkle kick) 9:23

VHS: Jefferson 10-yard pass to Darden.
(Run failed) 2:40

BHS: Louviere 28-yard pass to Williams.
(McCorkle kick)

Berwick Individual Stats
Rushing
Collin Louviere 18-51; D.J. Robichaux 2-16;
Josh Carver, 7-14; Beau Boudreaux, 1-8;
Team, 2- (-10)

Passing
Collin Louviere 10-20-3 202 yds. 3 TDs;
Mitchell Sanford 0-1-1 0 yds.

Receiving
Audwin Williams 5-117, 2 TDs; Kenan
Jones, 2-40; Larenz Clark, 2-35, TD; Josh
Carver 1-10