Stags off to 2-0 start under new head coach
Moncks Corner – While hardly a thing of beauty at times, Berkeley High’s first-year head football coach Eric Lodge opened his era with a win as the Stags knocked off county rival Timberland, 36-32, on Aug. 18.
Lodge, who came to Berkeley from a very successful (32-4) tenure as the head coach of Seminole High in Florida, inherits a young but athletic team this fall. He also inherits a program that managed just five wins over the last two seasons.
With the youth, Lodge says expectations may be lowered by some on the outside. That is not the case in the Berkeley locker room.
“With my background, it will be hard for me to accept that we’re just going to take our lumps this year. That’s not who I am and that’s not the cloth I am cut from,” Lodge said. “Every time we step on the field, we are trying to win. We will try to do everything that we can to do what winners do.”
The Stags will start a bevy of underclassmen all over the field this season but the one experienced unit is the offensive line. Seniors Malachi Purdie, Austin Bridges and Tylique Gillians will anchor the front, with junior Denzel Reid and promising sophomore Zion Britt filling out the lineup.
“I really believe they will be a good, solid unit,” Lodge said. “They have been working hard to get on the same page, to become a cohesive unit.”
That experienced line will need to be solid as they protect a young stable of backfield performers. Lodge has opted for freshman Henry Rivers as the quarterback this fall. Rivers is ultra-talented but is still learning the nuances of quarterback play. In his first game, he threw for 207 yards and four touchdowns while adding a rushing score. Not a bad start.
“He certainly has great potential and he’s the guy that earned the job,” Lodge says.
The load in the running game will be shared by several backs, including seniors Isaiah Palmer and Kanye Wade-Prioleau, and sophomores K’den Foxworth and Jesse Brown.
The receiving corps is talented but a little inexperienced, according to Lodge. Senior Tavon Frazier and juniors Kevin Boone and Kayden Bash are three of the top pass-catchers. Former quarterback McCrae Driggers, along with Josh Smalls and Logan Washington also figure into the rotation.
Another key piece offensively is senior tight end Jovan Wigfall, one of the team’s best overall athletes who should be factor in the passing game.
The defense will likely start only one senior and the youth was evident in the opening game as the Stags yielded close to 400 total yards.
Senior tackle Jove Rouse may be the lone starting senior. Rouse was an all-region performer last season. Others up front include juniors Andre Williams and Ben Tillman, and sophomore nose tackle Landon Jackson.
Three sophomore linebackers show plenty of promise. The group is paced by Kevin Rivers, Jr., whose father was an all-state lineman for Berkeley. Marcus Henderson and Kinsey Rowe are the other two starters.
Working on the back end is a combination of juniors Jermaine Jackson, Omar Meggett and Gavin Gaskins, along with sophomore Elisha Smalls.
While aiming to win every game on the schedule, Lodge also has his goals in terms of the overall development of the program.
“We want to install our culture, the right way to do things,” he said. “The way that we do things, all the way down to the b-team level. Everything we do on the varsity, we want those young kids to do the same things. We want to build a total program.”
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