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The Berkeley Yellowjackets went into halftime of Friday’s game against Liberty High a team looking for their hearts. As they proved in the second half, the Jackets have plenty of it. 

Three touchdowns by the Berkeley High defense sparked a second-half scoring orgy that left Liberty (1-1) helpless, as the Jackets scored 49 points after halftime on the way to a 55-14 win in their first game of the season. 

Sophomore cornerback Patrick Henderson led the way with two interception returns for touchdowns, one in each half. The plays were nearly identical, with Liberty quarterback Bryan Beaver overthrowing his target into Henderson’s arms, right down to Henderson dancing down the left sideline into the end zone. 

“I basically just read the play both times, and he threw the ball at me. I just had to catch it,” Henderson said. “Then I was just thinking about the endzone.” 

Berkeley’s Aaron Boatwright got the Jackets going straight out of the locker room with an unusual-looking touchdown return. As the kickoff bounced toward him, he kicked the ball, then grabbed it on a bounce, ran into his own player, rebounded back five yards, and took off around the corner for 65-yard touchdown for a 13-6 lead that Berkeley would never give back. 

Senior defensive end Robert Hunter-Ford got the Jackets’ second defensive touchdown, recovering a Beaver fumble in the end zone in the third quarter. That score started a run of three Berkeley touchdowns in eight plays, as the Lions failed to pick up the ensuing kickoff and Berkeley recovered on the 25-yard line. Two plays later quarterback Jeff Spellman hit Craig Hollis down the middle for a touchdown and a 27-6 lead. 

On a third-and-long on the next series, Bryan threw Henderson’s second pick, which pretty much put the game away for the Jackets. 

“Our defense really kept us in the game in the first half, and the ball just bounced our way most of the time in the second half,” Berkeley head coach Matt Bissell said. “We just had to get our bearings, work out some kinks.” 

Berkeley would score three more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, one on an inside handoff to wide receiver Sean Young for a 56-yard score and the final one coming on a Chris Watson 17-yard scamper. Hollis had a 56-yard run of his own called back on a holding call. 

But the story of the day was the Berkeley defense. Although they allowed Liberty to gain 359 yards, most of them came on a 74-yard touchdown run by Alejandro Rivera near the end of the first half that tied the game 6-6 and some garbage-time passes by Beaver. The Jackets continuously made big plays, with Hunter-Ford coming up with two fumble recoveries and a sack, Rodney Jones two sacks and Finus Cokes one sack (and a touchdown run). Throw in Henderson’s two interceptions and Jamal Johnson-Lucas stuffing several inside runs, and it adds up to a dominating performance. 

“This is what we expected to do,” Hunter-Ford said. “We watched a lot of tape on Liberty, and our coaches told us what we had to do. We just went out and did it.” 

one coming on a Chris Watson 17-yard scamper. Hollis had a 56-yard run of his own called back on a holding call. 

But the story of the day was the Berkeley defense. Although they allowed Liberty to gain 359 yards, most of them came on a 74-yard touchdown run by Alejandro Rivera near the end of the first half and some garbage-time passes by Beaver. The Jackets continuously made big plays, with Hunter-Ford coming up with two fumble recoveries and a sack, Rodney Jones two sacks and Finus Cokes one sack (and a touchdown run). Throw in Henderson’s two interceptions and Jamal Johnson-Lucas stuffing several inside runs, and it adds up to a dominating performance. 

“This is what we expected to do,” Hunter-Ford said. “We watched a lot of tape on Liberty, and our coaches told us what we had to do. We just went out and did it.” 

Notes: Berkeley High’s junior varsity fell to Liberty High’s JV, 32-8... Sophomore runing back Antoine Cokes impressed his coaches with 43 yards on eight carries... Bissell was vague about whether Spellman would keep the starting quarterback job for next week’s game against Kennedy High. Backups Foster Goree and Dessalines Gant both played on Friday.