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At halftime of the battle of ACCAL undefeateds on Thursday night, the score was knotted at 7-7. Favored Pinole Valley had run into an inspired Berkeley defense, managing to roll up just 124 yards. Spartan tailback DeAndre MacFarland, averaging nearly 200 rushing yards per game coming in, had just 20 yards on the ground. An upset looked possible, if not probable. Then the roof fell in. 

MacFarland ran for 144 second-half yards and three touchdowns after halftime, leading the Spartans to a 35-14 win and a second straight ACCAL championship. Berkeley’s defense, missing two key starters, was unable to stop the big play in the second half, as MacFarland had scoring runs of 50, 23 and 32 yards. 

“We just didn’t have enough players, and we got tired,” said Berkeley running back Germaine Baird, who rushed for 90 yards and a score. “The big plays got us spooked.” 

The ’Jackets were still within a touchdown after Baird’s spectacular 15-yard run made the score 21-14 late in the third quarter. On the first play of the fourth quarter, MacFarland was stood up and appeared to fumble, with Berkeley recovering. But the officials ruled the play was dead when MacFarland stopped moving forward, and the Spartans retained possession and drove for another score to put the game away. 

“If we had gotten the ball back there, it would’ve turned the game around,” Berkeley linebacker Akeem Brown said. “It would’ve been a straight dog-fight.” 

For his part, MacFarland seemed impressed by the Berkeley defense that held him to his lowest first-half rushing total of the season. 

“Their defense was real good in the first half,” he said. “They had me every time I ran the ball. But my coaches told me at halftime to bounce outside instead of going inside, and that worked.” 

Berkeley looked jumpy at the beginning of the game. Already down 7-0 when they got the ball, the ’Jackets were pushed back 40 yards in penalties on their opening drive. But they shook it off and punched the ball into the end zone to tie the game on Mario Mejia’s four-yard toss sweep. It was Mejia’s fourth carry of the year, all for touchdowns. 

The Spartans almost scored just before halftime, as they drove down to the Berkeley 5 with two minutes left. But Berkeley defensive tackle Robert Hunter-Ford stripped the ball from MacFarland at the goal line and Juleeun Jacobs recovered to preserve the tie going into the locker room. 

The ’Jackets had 10 players declared ineligible for the game due to academics, including four starters. That forced several players into new positions with only a short week of practice. 

“We’ve had good players out there, but we just lacked continuity,” Berkeley head coach Matt Bissell said. “They just didn’t know their new positions very well.” 

Several Berkeley players turned in late assignments after grades had been issued and said their teachers were willing to change their grades, but the administration wouldn’t allow some changes. One player thought he had dropped a class to start the year, but a mixup within the counseling department resulted in a failing grade rather than a drop. Adding to the problem was the unusual Thursday night game. A Berkeley coach said if the game had been a day later, almost all of the ineligible players would have been off probation and available. 

The Berkeley players were visibly upset that their teammates were sitting on the sidelines in street clothes in the most important game of the year. Several of them expressed anger with the Berkeley administration. 

“The administration screwed us over completely,” lineman Matt Toma said. “They really showed us no support at all coming into a huge game.” 

With the loss, Berkeley will have to apply for an at-large bid to the North Coast Section 4A playoffs. But with just eight total spots, at-large bids are hard to come by, especially for a team that finished the regular season at just 5-4 overall. But the ’Jackets hope their impressive non-league schedule, which included powerhouses James Logan, Foothill and Dos Palos, will play in their favor. 

“It would be great if we got in (to the playoffs), but the scores we lost by will probably keep us out,” Toma said. 

Bissell didn’t hold out a lot of hope either, but said he will attend the seeding meeting on Sunday and fight for his team. 

“Our kids deserve at least a shot, because they played their hearts out,” he said. “We had an incredibly tough pre-season schedule, and we could have had a much better record with some cream puffs in there. We haven’t lost to anyone we shouldn’t have.”