MONTGOMERY Ala. - The Berry College Vikings open the year with a convincing victory after a dominant first half against the Huntington Hawks, the final score 50-20.
Cameron Coleman and
Jake Turner were lethal for the Viking's offense, already surpassing their total touchdowns from the previous season.
The Hawks elected to receive the first drive of the new football season, kicking off the year from their own 25. The Hawks strung together a few solid possessions to shake off the dust from the offseason, but the Viking's defense was already in mint-condition, blowing up the offense and stripping the Hawk's quarterback to set up the first possession of the year for the Vikings at Huntington's 29-yard line on a recovery by
David Attaochu. With not much further to go, the Viking's offense came out and handed the ball off to
Jake Turner, who handled the rest immediately putting the Viking's ahead by a touchdown.
The defense laid the wood in the first half, setting the tone for the Viking's offense to come on the field and capitalize.
Cameron Coleman was a large part of that advantage, burning his defenders deep for two touchdowns, resulting in a 36-0 lead as the sun sent on the first quarter of action.
Jake Turner also added a one yard touchdown run to culminate a five play 48 yard drive.
Andrew Hunter then drove the Vikings down the field on a six play 67 yard drive to score on a seven yard touchdown right before halftime.
The Vikings were primed to continue to run the check up, receiving the opening kickoff of the second half, but down big, the Hawks were looking to move the chains in their favor, and got off to a good start by forcing a fumble that gave them their opening possession of the second half at the Berry 24-yard line. Not wasting the chance, the Hawks forced their way into the endzone for their first score of the game. With a renewed possession, the Vikings began to eat clock, moving the ball methodically down the field. But the Hawks continued to show signs of life, jumping on a curl route and taking it back home for a pick six to further chip away at the objective. With two drives ending in two turnovers, the Vikings committed to the run, rumbling down the field, but the Hawks defen
se prevented them from finding the endzone, setting up their offense with possession before the quarter ended, the score 34-14.
Now in do or die mode as the final quarter began, Huntington's offense was operating like a well-oiled machine, carving up the Viking's defense to bring the score within two possessions as the quarter began. With momentum on their side, the Hawks tried to make things easier for themselves later with a two-point conversion to give the Vikings the ball back down by only fourteen, but failed the conversion. With a renewed possession and tension from the Hawks effectively mounting a comeback, Berry put the ball back in the hands of
Jake Turner, who broke away for a 61-yard run to the endzone to give the Vikings their first score of the second half, the score 43-20. With just under 10 minutes left, there was still hope if the Hawks executed perfectly down the stretch, but the offense stalled out, and the Vikings padded the lead with a late eight yard touchdown from
Andrew Davis as the Vikings won 50-20.
Andrew Hunter in his first game as the main starting quarterback led the team going 9-for-13 for 210 yards and two touchdowns while adding 55 yard on the ground and another touchdown.
Jake Turner rushed for 118 yards and three touchdown while
Cameron Coleman led all receivers with 126 yards and two touchdowns.
The Vikings return to Valhalla next Saturday, September 12th, for their home-opener against the LaGrange College Panthers. The game kicks off at 6:00 p.m.
