The Berean Christian School Bulldogs football squad, the 2014 Gulf Atlantic Division champions, traveled to Vero Beach last Thursday to compete in a spring game jamboree. The Bulldogs played one half against Jupiter Christian School and one half against St. Edward’s School.
In the first game, Jupiter took an early 8-0 lead on a bad punt snap, giving Jupiter the ball on Berean’s own 18 yard line. Berean’s quarterback Chris Mauck took his offense and quickly began to carve up the Jupiter secondary. Two great catches with super runs by Daniel Pinkerman took the ball to the 32 yard line. On first and 10, Mauck hit Keilon Stube for a 32-yard touchdown pass to make it 8-8.
The Berean defense went three and out and gave the ball right back to Mauck. After good runs by Luke Langsam and Kasey Montrois, Mauck hit one of his young receivers on a quick slant, but the ball was fumbled. Stube alertly scooped it up and raced 35 yards for a touchdown. Two points later, and the Bulldogs led 16-8.
Later, Mauck once again hit Pinkerman on several passes to move the ball to the Jupiter 1 yard line. Langsam dove in for the score, but the conversion failed, making it 22-8. On the last play of the game, Berean’s defense allowed a 15-yard pass, which resulted in a 62-yard run for a Jupiter touchdown. The game ended with Berean up 22-16.
In the second game, St. Edward’s drove 70 yards on its first possession and took an early 6-0 lead, after missing the two-point conversion. Berean’s offense stalled on two holding penalties, and St. Edward’s drove down again, but the defense held, only giving up a field goal, making it 9-0.
Starting on his own 30, Mauck got his receivers clicking and moved his offense methodically down the field. He then hit a deep 30-yarder to Pinkerman, whose great run after the catch gave the Bulldogs their first touchdown. The two-point conversion was good, and left Berean narrowly behind, 9-8.
The next Saint Edward’s offensive series proved to be short. On the second play from scrimmage, sophomore Brendon Oakes intercepted a quick out pass and took it back 40 yards for the touchdown. The two point try was good, and the Bulldogs led 16-9.
Saint Edward’s came right back after a horse collar call gave them a first down. They took great advantage of the penalty, as well as draining the clock. A score and the two-point conversion, gave St. Edward’s at 17-16 lead with three minutes to go.
Starting from his own 30 with 70 yards to go, Mauck directed his team in their fast-paced, Oregon-style, no-huddle offense. A few quick passes moved the ball to the 50 yard line, but a sack and a penalty put them in a third and 18. Mauck then looked to his wide receiver, Nick Doucette, fresh off of a recent spleen injury.
Mauck pin-pointed a 40-yarder to Doucette, who made a fantastic leaping catch to keep the drive alive. On the next play, Mauck hit Stube on a quick swing pass, and the junior broke tackles all the way down the sideline to the 3 yard line. Stube then darted off a tackle for the final three yards, giving Berean the lead. However, the extra-point pass was incomplete. With 55 seconds on the clock, Berean led 22-17.
Saint Edward’s wasn’t done just yet. The team’s next two plays resulted in huge gains, all the way to the Berean 35. However, the Bulldogs defense held firm, and with 11 seconds to go, a deep corner pass was intercepted by sophomore cornerback Jarod Hammond. Mauck took a knee, and Berean earned its second win of the day, 22-17.
