BERLIN — Senior Corbin Kordell picked off two Kasey Yoder passes and sealed the victory with a 42-yard reception on a third-down play, helping Berlin Brothersvalley past North Star 17-14, in a showdown of Inter-County Conference South programs, Friday, Oct. 23.
"It's great to get the 1-seed (in the District 5-2A playoffs)," said Kordell. "It's been a while since Berlin's had this many wins. It is great to do things the Berlin way and have 41 people around me that believe the same way as me."
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The win puts Berlin Brothersvalley in the driver seat in D5-2A as well as the ICC South.
Junior running back Carter Durst tallied 131 rushing yards and two touchdowns for the Mountaineers.
Berlin Brothersvalley (8-1) limited Yoder to 143 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 carries as well as 102 passing yards and a TD. Berlin Brothersvalley won the battle in the trenches against a bigger North Star front.
"I think it's one of those games, you look at their line, you look at our size over here," Berlin Brothersvalley coach Dante Paul said. "We're not the biggest guys. We're not the most athletic. Whatever it is, but I'm proud of our guys' fight. I told them all year long, if we can match other teams' effort and physicality, we're going to find ourselves in ball games. When you prepare and execute, good things end up happening."
North Star (7-2) struck first on the opening series of the game. Yoder capped a 6-play, 62-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Sean Hemminger added the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 8:29 to go in the quarter.
Berlin Brothersvalley answered to open the second quarter. The Mountaineers took advantage of a short field and a pass interference call against the Cougars on a fourth-down play to keep the drive alive. Durst rumbled 21 yards out of the wildcat to paydirt. Josh Brinton evened the score with the PAT.
The Cougar defense, which has not allowed more than 17 points in a game this season, came up with a fumble recovery by Brody Shroyer and a pick by Louis Lepley in the second to slow any Mountaineer momentum.
North Star took over at the Berlin Brothersvalley 38-yard line with 1:28 to go in the half. The Cougars marched down to the 9-yard line, and a penalty on a field goal attempt set them up fourth-and-goal at the 4. Rather than kick the field goal, first-year coach Shane Smith went for it. Yoder's pass was batted away and the game stayed tied at the break.
"Berlin's been playing defense like this for 40 years," Smith said. "I thought Kasey spreading them out was our best opportunity to move the ball. When they moved the ball inside the 5, I thought, we are going to the locker room tied or with some serious momentum with a touchdown. Field goals are never guaranteed. We missed some opportunities in the first half."
Durst broke the tie on the first series of the third quarter. He raced 47 yards on the first play from scrimmage to the North Star 25. A pair of timely connections from Brady Janidlo to Dawson Shaffer and Carson Janidlo as well as a fourth-down pick-up by Durst led to his second TD of the game from 3 yards out. Janidlo threw for 152 yards in the game.
Brinton notched what proved to be the game-winner on a 34-yard field goal with 3:52 to go in the third quarter.
Yoder connected with Will Eshleman for a 34-yard touchdown with 48 seconds to go in the third, pulling the Cougars within three.
Berlin Brothersvalley had a 16-play drive that carried in the fourth quarter, running off 7:19 of game clock in the final frame. Despite failing to convert a fourth down, the defense responded with Kordell's pick to and big catch to seal the deal.
Adam Ripple is the Daily American sports editor. He can be reached at 814-444-5926. Follow him on X @ARipple_DAsport. Follow Daily American Sports on Facebook and @dailyamericanmedia on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Berlin Brothersvalley holds off North Star in duel of top ICC programs