Berkeley Prep 42, Golden Gate 7
By Chris Girandola
TAMPA – Greatness was on display Friday night at Berkeley Prep’s Premier Field.
Once again, Nelson Agholor, the 6-foot-1, 180-pound star running back for the Buccaneers, showcased his skills, rushing for 218 yards on 11 carries in a 42-7 win over Golden Gate (Naples).
“He’s the best tailback I’ve seen in my entire career coaching,” said Golden Gate coach Mike DiGrigoli, who is in his 13th year coaching. “He’s very impressive. Even when we did some things right, he would slip a tackle or two and turn it into a long run. He’s every bit as good as advertised.”
Agholor dazzled the sold-out crowd, which included a plethora of students decked out in body paint of the school colors, with touchdown runs of 3, 6, 45 and 76 yards, all coming before halftime. And with Agholor ripping to shreds the Titans’ defense, he was also helping the defense hold Golden Gate’s offense to just 59 yards in the first half. The Buccaneers had 292 yards before halftime.
By the time the second half started, a victory was a foregone conclusion and the rest of the game was played with a running clock.
“We’re just focused on taking care of each game and then moving on to the next preparation,” said Buccaneers quarterback Destin Nichols, who completed 4-of-10 passes for 94 yards and one touchdown.
Golden Gate (1-2) knew what to expect Friday at Berkeley Prep (3-0). The Titans just didn’t know the reality would far exceed those expectations as Agholor proved why he is ranked in the top 50 for high school seniors throughout the nation by many scouting services. “Sometimes, you can’t help but just stand back and watch (after handing the ball off),” Nichols said. “It is pretty fun to team up with someone as special as Nelson.”
The Titans were forced to play with their top two quarterbacks, starter Taylor Anderson and their first backup Kenny Mouton, who were dealing with injuries suffered last week in the loss to Ft. Myers. “It was a tough week preparation-wise,” DiGrigoli said. “We practiced thinking we’d be able to go with Taylor and he wasn’t cleared to play (Friday), so we had to go with Lewis (Drewniak) at quarterback, who hadn’t practiced at quarterback all week. So, it was frustrating from that standpoint.” It probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference as both the offense and defense demonstrated a bully approach.
“We focus on making things happen and when we do this, it helps in us increasing our confidence,” Algholor said. “Tonight, as in every night, the only way I’m able to make my runs happen the way they do is because of the great blocking up front and the physicality of the wide receivers.”
Golden Gate seemed as if it would make things interesting against the No. 5 ranked team in Class 3A when the Titans stopped the Buccaneers on their first drive. After Drewniak was intercepted on Golden Gate’s first possession, though, the Buccaneers reeled off three straight scores before the end of the first quarter. Agholor punched one in from three yards out to cap a 65-yard drive to put the Buccaneers up 7-0 with a little under eight minutes left in the period and then scored again about four minutes later on a six yard run to end a 56-yard drive.
Berkeley Prep quarterback Destin Nichols then hooked up with Reggie Barnes down the right sideline for a 52-yard touchdown to give the Buccaneers a 21-0 lead. Then, Agholor, who is the 42nd ranked player in the ESPNU Top 150 player rankings, broke off a highlight-reel run a few minutes into the second quarter. Minutes after taking one to the house from 44 yards out, Agholor went all video game on everyone when he took a handoff deep in Buccaneers’ territory and weaved through traffic down the left sideline before cutting back across the entire field and outracing the Titans secondary for a 72-yard score.
“He’s a special player,” DiGirgoli said. The Buccaneers scored again on the Titans next possession when Vic Pellegrino picked off a Drewniak pass and ran it back for a 30-yard interception return to put Berkeley ahead 42-0 going into halftime.
Shamol Miller gave the Titans their only score when he capped a 65-yard drive with a 4-yard run.
The second half was much kinder to the visitors, due in part to Berkeley playing their backups for most of it as the Titans tallied their only score on a 4-yard run by Shamol Miller. Breon Brown led the Titans with 81 rushing yards on 16 carries as the Titans finished the game with 171 total yards on the ground.
Next up for Berkeley is Orlando Lake Highland Prep (2-1), a team close to being ranked in the top 5 in the state for Class 4A. Lake Highland suffered a 24-17 defeat to Plantation American Heritage.
Highlights HERE