Photo by Matt Hembree
By Harry Davis
Staff Writer
On Saturday, October 7, the Sewanee Tigers lost to the Berry College Vikings 48-10.
After starting off the season strong, the Tigers came upon a tough stretch of games. The past two games were close, losing by a small margin to both Hendrix and Millsaps.
Saturday’s game was played against the Berry College Vikings, a team ranked number 24 in the nation with a current 5-0 record with wins against Hendrix and Austin College, among others. The Vikings had a very stout defensive, only allowing more than 14 points in a game once to Maryville in their season opener. Offensively, they moved the ball effectively, averaging 400 yards a game with a nearly even split between rushing and passing. The Tigers looked to end Berry’s hot streak at home.
For Family Weekend, the stands were packed for the first game under the lights in Sewanee’s history. Attendance was estimated at more than 1,800 people, although many believe this estimate to be on the low end. The stadium was fantastic as a great day turned into tailgating parties and into a one-of-a-kind atmosphere for the football team.
Berry came out firing in the first quarter, scoring touchdowns on their first three possessions, highlighted by Berry’s willingness to throw the ball even as the rain began to come down. The second quarter began in a similar way as Berry kicked a field goal on their first drive in the quarter before adding a touchdown late to bring the half time score to 31-0.
In the third quarter, Berry continued to drive the ball up the field adding a field goal and a touchdown to make the score 41-0 at the end of three quarters. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Sewanee managed to get on the board with a field goal after Berry was intercepted by William Phillips (C’21).
Berry scored another touchdown before Sewanee added one more score with a pass from Sam Hearn (C’20) to Sam Everette (C’21) for a 27-yard touchdown to bring the final to 48-10 for Berry.
This game was at an unfortunate time for the Tigers as they try to regain their footing after a string of losses. The Tigers have shown great potential so far, but they are a young team starting many freshmen and sophomores on defense as well as experiencing some growing pains as they transition to new schemes under Head Coach Rundle. Berry, however, is an older and more experienced team that has come together to be a nationally ranked D-III program.
Sewanee will play at Birmingham-Southern on Saturday, October 14 before returning home to play Trinity College on Saturday, October 21.