The Berean Christian School Bulldogs faced Olympic Heights High School on Saturday, Oct. 10, coming away with a 24-14 victory.
The first quarter was a defensive battle with neither team being able to move the ball. Olympic Heights scored first but missed the two-point try to take an early second quarter lead 6-0.
Berean quarterback Christopher Mauck did not waste any time as he moved the Bulldogs down into Lions territory with his running and passing to Daniel Pinkerman, Jared Hammond and Kelion Stube. At the Lions 16-yard line, with third and eight, the Olympic Heights blitz came again. This time, Mauck checked down to his running back Luke Jamison, who rambled 16 yards for the score. The kick was good, making it 7-6.
The next Olympic Heights offensive series proved to be short. On three and six, a quick out pass was picked off by Jamison, who took it to pay dirt, and the Bulldogs led 14-6. The rest of the quarter was back and forth, with Berean’s defense led by David Combs, Malachi Kearney, Luke Langsam, Devin Downey and Jamison digging in and shutting the Lions down. The half ended at 14-6.
Berean received the second half kickoff, and Mauck took charge, hitting two quick passes to Pinkerman. The bulldogs pushed deep into Lions territory. A penalty and a sack stopped the drive, and Stube’s 27-yard field goal gave Berean a little breathing room at 17-6.
The fourth quarter saw both teams move the ball deep into the other’s territory, but both defenses shut down the offense. With five minutes to go, the Lions hit a big fourth-and-long pass down the sideline putting them inside the Bulldog 10. Three plays later, Olympic Heights narrowed the gap to 17-14.
The kickoff was returned across the 50-yard line by Stube, giving the Bulldogs great field position. With the Lions coming on the blitz again, Mauck darted up the middle for 15 yards, and a facemask on the tackle gave Berean the ball on the 25-yard line.
After a good run by Kasey Montrois and a quick pass to Hammond, the Bulldogs were in striking distance. Three incomplete passes later, the Bulldogs were left with fourth-and-seven from the 11-yard line. The Lions sent the blitz once again, however the Berean line picked it up well this time, giving Mauck just enough time to find Jamison on a deep post, and the senior quarterback drilled his receiver right in the numbers. The kick was good, making Berean’s lead 24-14 with just under three minutes to play.
Olympic Heights gave it one more try with a drive to the Berean 30-yard line, but the defense locked down and handed the ball back to Mauck on downs. Mauck took a knee to end the game, extending the Bulldogs’ undefeated season to 6-0.
Berean travels across the state to Tampa on Friday, Oct. 16 to play the highly skilled Cambridge Christian School.
