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Ahh, halftime. Berkeley High midfielder Demetrius Sommers cracks open a cold one - a tall black can, highlights of red and gold. 

From a distance, it looks like he’s drinking King Cobra. But since Sommers is in the middle of a lacrosse game and he’s too young to be drinking malt liquor, that seems unlikely. Sommers pours the beverage into his Gatorade sport bottle and crushes the can, discarding it underneath the Berkeley bench. 

A glimpse of the can reveals a label reading “Double Size, Double Strength” as Sommers takes two giant swigs from the sport bottle, tosses it aside, and hustles over to a photographer to ask him if he managed to get any good shots (of Sommers) in the first half. Sommers smiles broadly. Braces, spiked blonde hair, a gleam in the eye. 

“Cool,” he says. “All right. Very cool.” And runs back onto the field. 

“RockStar Energy Drink,” the can reads. Then, the motto: “Party Like a Rock Star.” 

Berkeley lacrosse coach Jon Rubin can only smile and shake his head when asked about his most rabid defensive player. 

“He has one gear,” Rubin says. “Fifth gear – and that’s it.” 

But compared to the rest of the players on the field, it looks like sixth gear. The second half starts and immediately Sommers, a long-stick midfielder, sprints up the midline to the dead center of the field, where a single Berkeley player and a single Piedmont player are on their knees, skirmishing over the ball in lacrosse’s version of a face-off. The ball squirts out, and Sommers, still in full stride, scoops up the ball and turns upfield. 

Sommers is technically a defender – but one who always seems to be on the attack. 

Moving in a straight line (he doesn’t really need to juke – he just outruns everyone else), Sommers carries the ball directly into the Berkeley offensive zone. He snaps a pass to a Berkeley attacker, turns smartly, and exits the playing field so that an additional Berkeley attacker can join the fray. Total time on the field: 20 seconds at full bore. 

Back on the sideline, there’s just time for one swig from the Gatorade bottle. A Berkeley turnover, and immediately Sommers sprints back into the game. 

“I’m basically busting in and out of the field all the time,” Sommers says. “I figure I run like two or three miles per game out there. I usually drink [RockStar] between halves – it’s like a double-sized Red Bull – and it gives me that extra burst of energy.” 

But a minute later Sommers is out of the game again – this time nursing a sideache. 

“It’s that energy drink you’re drinking,” a teammate yells. Sommers nods, limping, and drags himself slowly to the bench. He sits for a second, dazed. Then – what else - another long pull from the sport bottle, and Sommers pops back to his feet. Seconds later he is back in the game, looking for someone to hit. 

It’s not long before he finds someone. A Piedmont attacker accepts a pass in front of the net, turns, and is flattened by a charging Sommers. The ball floats briefly in the air and Sommers, while leaping over his prone victim, snatches it out of the air. 

The sideache, apparently, has passed. 

Sommers is no lumbering defenseman – he plays much larger than he actually is. He can lie to the DMV all he wants, but standing with him after the game it’s obvious. 

“I’m about five-nine, 150 (pounds),” Sommers says. “Oh. Yeah, you’re right - that might be stretching it a bit. Maybe I’m five-eight and a half. My driver’s license says five-nine so I’ll just go with that.” 

Rubin doesn’t care how big Sommers is – the results are what matter. 

“Against bigger teams, like St. Ignatius and (Bishop) O’Dowd, he’s just been taking over the game,” Rubin says. “It’s the first time I’ve seen a defender change the course of the game like that.” 

Sommers, a 16-year-old junior, is far from leading his Yellowjackets in scoring. A defender contributes in other ways: Sommers picks up eight to ten loose balls per game, mixes in another four to six steals – and at least once per game Sommers sizes up an opponent, takes two or three steps running start and brings the pain. 

“Hitting comes natural to me,” says Sommers, a middle linebacker for the school’s football team. “It feels good to rip somebody and just put them on their butt.” 

Picture the Tasmanian Devil, amp him up on some sort of bizarre energy brew, and now hand him a very large stick – this is Demetrius Sommers on the lacrosse field. In an Ivy League sport, Sommers is all X-Games. 

“I’ve got a couple of dirtbikes,” Sommers says. “And I do downhill skateboarding, I snowboard and surf, wakeboard – oh, and BMX biking - I used to race BMX. I’ve never gone to the emergency room but my stepmom is a teacher at Berkeley High, so I assume we’re covered.” 

At the halfway point in the Shoreline Lacrosse League season, opposing teams might want to double-check their own coverage. Demetrius Sommers has been a monster thus far – and he’s looking to pop the top on a “Double Size, Double Strength” second half.