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The Berkeley Yellowjackets had a 7-0 record heading into Friday night’s showdown with Pinole Valley High, built mostly on overwhelming wins over underwhelming opponents. Berkeley had surrendered just 55 points all season and had the second-rated defense in the Bay Area. The question was, were the Jackets ready to take down a quality opponent and beat the Spartans for the first time in seven years? 

The Berkeley defense answered that question with a resounding yes. It held the Spartans scoreless while the Jacket offense got three scores off of Pinole Valley turnovers, and Berkeley (8-0 overall, 5-0 ACCAL) prevailed, 17-0, to take command of the Alameda-Contra Costa Athletic League race. 

“I knew we were good enough to shut them out, but once the game starts, mistakes get made,” Berkeley defensive coordinator Ronald Moore said. “But the defense played pretty much a perfect game tonight.” 

The Yellowjackets intercepted three Anthony Lopez passes, including Patrick Henderson’s pick that the sophomore returned 78 yards to the Pinole Valley 10 with four minutes left in the game. Fellow sophomore Antoine Cokes scored on a sweep on the next play to give the Jackets an insurmountable 17-0 lead. 

Pinole Valley (6-2, 4-1) managed just 142 yards in the game, including a meager 33 in the first half. Berkeley’s offense wasn’t much better, gaining just 181 yards, but the Yellowjackets didn’t commit a turnover and took advantage of some great field position in the second half. 

“The idea was not to be too aggressive and not make mistakes,” Berkeley offensive coordinator Clarence Johnson said. “We wanted to use the field position that our defense gave us.” 

The Jackets were almost too patient, failing to score touchdowns on two drives inside the Pinole Valley 10-yard line in the first half. But the Jackets did put the winning points on the scoreboard when kicker Terrell Elliot made a 27-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. 

Berkeley caught the break it needed right away in the second half, as Pinole Valley’s Damarea Johnson fumbled the opening kickoff right into the waiting hands of Berkeley’s Finus Cokes on the 14-yard line. Quarterback Dessalines Gant used a nice second effort to score from the 1 for a 10-0 Berkeley lead. 

The Berkeley defense stood strong against the vaunted Pinole Valley running game, allowing the Spartans less than three yards per carry. Anchored by tackles Jamal Lucas-Johnson and Myron Seals and with Robert Hunter-Ford, Rodney Jones and Julian James attacking from the edges, the Yellowjackets swarmed the Pinole Valley running backs every time they touched the ball.  

The Jackets also had three sacks of Lopez, all in the second half, and Jones caused one of the interceptions by dragging Lopez down as the quarterback threw the ball into cornerback Robert Young’s arms in the third quarter. Hunter-Ford came up with Berkeley’s first interception, reading a screen pass and stepping into the passing lane just before halftime to set up Elliot’s field goal. 

While the victory was certainly enjoyed by all of the Berkeley players, Johnson-Lucas was more grateful than most. The 300-pound senior missed last season’s ACCAL-title-deciding game against the Spartans due to academics, and he took out two years’ worth of frustration on Friday night. Johnson-Lucas was a monster in the middle, pile-driving any Spartan running back who dared run up the gut. 

“I had a whole lot to prove tonight,” Johnson-Lucas said. “I just wanted to go out with a bang. I guess we did that, didn’t we?” 

With games against Alameda and El Cerrito left in the regular season, the Jackets figure to finish undefeated and with an automatic berth to the North Coast Section playoffs. It would be the first postseason appearance for every Yellowjacket player and coach, a nice reward for the most talented Berkeley team in recent memory. 

“This is such a great feeling,” middle linebacker Owen Goldstrom said. “Now we just have to make sure we win the rest of our games and make the playoffs. Once we’re there, that’s when we can do some real damage.”