Birmingham, Ala. – The Berry College football team collected 404 yards of total offense on Saturday, defeating Birmingham-Southern 26-23 in the opening game of the season.
Gavin Gray had a monstrous day on offense, completing 19-40 throws for 322 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 32 yards.
TJ Watkins also had a big day, collecting 105 yards and one touchdown that came from an 82-yard bullet from Gray to put the Vikings up 17-3 in the second.
On defense,
Connor Cheyunski had nine tackles, one for a loss, and had three huge third down stops.
Jack Carroll also had a strong outing, with six tackles and one interception.
BSC went up 3-0 following a good 25-yard field goal, but the Vikings quickly answered back with a 30-yard touchdown pass to
Tarin Westbrook with just over a minute to go in the first. In the second,
Matthew Syverson drilled a 45-yard field goal to put the Vikings up 10-3, which was shortly followed by the 82-yard touchdown pass to Watkins to go up 17-3. BSC scored a quick touchdown right before the half to make it a 17-10 ballgame.
In the second half, Syverson connected with another field goal to expand the lead to 20-10, but BSC had back-to-back touchdowns to make it a 23-20 ballgame after a blocked PAT with just under seven minutes to go. Berry stayed patient and drove down the field, Gray connected with
Cameron Kawa for a two-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds to go to top BSC 26-23.
