Page One

For 47 minutes, Sean Young was a goat. But he needed just 10 seconds to make himself a hero. 

Young returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown with 40 seconds left in regulation to lead Berkeley High past El Cerrito High, 13-7, preserving the Yellowjackets’ unbeaten season and atoning for two drops of potential touchdown passes earlier in the game. 

With the Alameda-Contra Costa Athletic League title already in the bag, the Jackets came out ice cold against the Gauchos, who came into the game at just 4-5 for the season. Berkeley’s big-play offense was stymied for the entire first half, while a two-play letdown by the defense led to El Cerrito’s only score of the game, a 1-yard touchdown plunge by running back John Norman just before halftime. It was the first time this season Berkeley trailed heading into the locker room, but the Yellowjacket coaches were remarkably calm. 

“We should have shut [El Cerrito] out. It was my fault – I called the wrong defense,” Berkeley defensive coordinator Ronald Moore said. “I just told our guys to keep playing hard.” 

Moore’s defense did just that, allowing the Gauchos just 34 offensive yards in the second half, but the Yellowjacket offense continued to sputter. Young, the team’s fastest player and big-play threat, lost his confidence after dropping a sure touchdown just before El Cerrito’s score and dropped three more passes in the second half, including another potential touchdown in the fourth quarter. The surest sign that his head was spinning was a fair catch call on a punt with no one within 15 yards of him. 

“I’ve never had a game like that before in my life,” he said. “I completely lost my confidence after I dropped that first one, and I didn’t recover until the end.” 

But while Young was out of sorts, fellow senior Robert Hunter-Ford was simply unstoppable. He was a force on defense, making several tackles behind the line of scrimmage, and made the biggest play of the day on the other side of the ball. On a 3rd-and-11 at the Berkeley 42-yard line, Hunter-Ford took a screen pass from quarterback Dessalines Gant and went to work. He cut up the left sideline for first-down yardage, then veered across the field. Wide receiver Roberto McBean threw a nice block in the middle of the field, then tailback Antoine Cokes absolutely demolished the last defender on the play, springing Hunter-Ford for a 58-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7. Cokes hit the Gaucho player so hard he aggravated a stinger in his left shoulder and had to sit out the rest of the game. 

“I have to give all the credit to my teammates on that one,” Hunter-Ford said. “I got some great blocks and didn’t have to do anything once I went across the field.” 

Hunter-Ford made another huge play, this time on the defensive side, minutes later. He bulled his way into the backfield and disrupted a pitch to running back Ryan Shaifer, who fumbled the ball. Hunter-Ford recovered on the El Cerrito 31, and when Gant hit Craig Hollis over the middle to the 5-yard line, it looked as if the Yellowjackets would pull out a go-ahead score. 

But disaster struck on the next play. Gant audibled from a run play to a pass, and threw a wounded duck over the middle that El Cerrito linebacker Mario Cox picked off at the goal line for Berkeley’s only turnover of the game. 

“I take all the blame on that one,” Gant said. “I never should have changed the play. It was a bad audible on my part.” 

Berkeley offensive coordinator Clarence Johnson was understandably upset that the inexperienced Gant changed the play-call. 

“I almost came out of the booth and strangled him,” Johnson said with a smile after the game. 

The Gauchos managed to get a first down, but the drive stalled at the 21-yard line with just under a minute left. James Cannon got a good punt off, and Young caught the ball running forward at midfield. He bounced off of a blocker, then sped past a defender to the left sideline, right in front of the Berkeley bench. Young picked up two blockers, then cut back to the middle of the field and outran everyone to the end zone, setting off a wild celebration by his teammates, coaches and the biggest crowd of the year. 

“It was do or die right then,” said a teary-eyed Young after the final whistle. “I knew I needed to make a big play.” 

The Berkeley celebration went sour when senior fullback Aaron Boatwright, already battling an injury to his left knee, dislocated his right knee and fell to the ground in agony. Although he was walking gingerly minutes later, his status, along with Cokes’ for next week’s North Coast Section playoff game is in doubt. 

Berkeley cornerback Robert Young sealed the victory by intercepting Robert Wright’s pass with 23 seconds left, and Gant kneeled down on the final play to run out the clock. The Yellowjackets finished the regular season at 9-0, the school’s first perfect season since 1973, and will likely end up as the sixth seed in the NCS playoffs. The NCS selection committee will announce the seeding Sunday morning. 

“We saw ourselves in this position when the year started,” second-year head coach Matt Bissell said. “Now we’re here, and we’re ready to make some noise in the playoffs.”