If you didn’t know what critical details the scoreboard revealed when the final horn sounded, it would have been easy to believe Eric Lodge was yelling at the losing team in the postgame huddle. The second-year Berkeley High School coach was frustrated with how the Stags almost allowed visiting Stratford High School to stage a remarkable comeback in the final 94 seconds of his team’s 30-22 win in the Region 7-5A opener Friday, Oct. 4, at Bonner Stadium.
“I told the kids for 23 minutes in the second half, we controlled the game,” Lodge said. “With a minute left, the whole team thinks it’s over with. That just really bothers me.
I’m not a results-based person. I’m more of a process type of guy. If we don’t do it the right way, I’m not happy about it.
” Berkeley linebacker Marcus Henderson’s interception in the end zone on the last play finally put the Knights away after the Stags led by 18 points less than a minute and a half earlier. Berkeley had just made a goal-line stand at its own 1, too, so it had every reason to feel in complete control. But Stratford kept swinging, recording a safety with 1:21 left to spark the final sequence.
On the first play following the ensuing kickoff, Knights quarterback Jachin Davis connected with Kerwin Squire all alone down the sideline on a 56-yard touchdown pass. A pass to Shawn Harris was successful on the 2-point conversion, pulling Stratford within 30-22 with 1:03 remaining. Stratford wasn’t done, though.
The Knig.
