Berry dominates en route to 7th-grade title
HOOVER -- “He’s gone.”
That’s what everyone in Jaguar Stadium got to say often on Wednesday night, as Berry Middle School quarterback Evan Smallwood found the end zone three times in the Jaguars’ 29-8 victory over Irondale to seal the seventh-grade Metro Conference championship.
Smallwood displayed his running and throwing ability all night long, completing several passes for critical first downs and scrambling for three rushing touchdowns, as he helped Berry cap off a perfect 8-0 season.
“For them to come together the way they did and work as a team the way they did, I can’t put into words how proud I am of them,” said Berry coach Rusty White.
On Wednesday, Irondale quarterback Earl Woods moved his team down the field to score rather easily on the first possession of the game, as the Mounties took an early 8-0 lead. But that was the only success Irondale’s offense would have the entire evening.
Berry ripped off the final 29 points of the game after that initial drive, with Smallwood capping off the Jags’ first possession with a 21-yard touchdown run. He surveyed the field, saw no open receivers but found nothing but green grass between him and the end zone. He converted the two-point play as well, to tie the game at 8-8.
Smallwood somehow eluded nearly the entire Irondale defense on the next drive, as he scrambled for a 36-yard touchdown, giving Berry a 15-8 lead, one it would continue to expand throughout the evening.
Berry’s next score was set up by strong defensive play. Caldwell Bussey notched a sack and Mason Bowden made the stop on third down, as the Jags forced a turnover on downs.
Moments later, Zamir Farris took a handoff on a reverse, beat the Irondale defense to the edge and outran everyone to the goal line for a 67-yard touchdown run to put Berry ahead 22-8, the eventual halftime margin.
George Gilbert came up with an interception to give Berry a chance to score again right before halftime, with Bowden and Bussey coming down with great catches to get the Jags inside the 10-yard line, but a final pass fell incomplete as time expired.
Berry put a final touchdown on the board in the third quarter, as Josh Acosta’s third-down reception set Smallwood up for the 7-yard scoring run.
J.R. Thompson successfully converted all three of his PAT kicks in the evening.
The Jags defense took it the rest of the way, as Jack Kendrick and Christian McNees snagged interceptions in the second half.
“We have a really stingy defense, they’ve played really well, didn’t give up many points this year. We just make big plays at crucial times in the games. Our games have really been team wins,” said White.
Berry last won the seventh-grade championship in 2011, with several of those players part of the Spain Park High School roster that knocked off rival Hoover for the first time in 2015.
“They are very similar to that group,” White said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that if they stay together and continue playing, they can do just as good.”
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