Northside Busts Berry 37-6 In Rivalry Tilt To Open 2021 Season

SAMANTHA — The Northside Rams had it clicking on both sides of the ball to begin the 2021 campaign, shutting out the rival Berry Wildcats in the first half en route to a 37-6 win Thursday night in Samantha.

While the rain impacted the passing game for both teams, the Rams followed the lead of junior quarterback Braden Green, who put up two scores through the air and one on the ground in the winning effort.

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"These conditions, the whole deal, were sloppy and we've got to get better," said Northside coach Chris Hilliker following the game. "We've got some kids who can do some different things. We've been primarily a running team for a lot of years and we've got some kids who can do stuff and Braden can do some different things."

While the Rams saw limited success through the air, it would be the ground game that would see the home squad gnaw on the clock to control the tempo of the game.

The first score of the game would come on a barreling one-yard run from Green with a little more than 2 minutes to go in the first quarter. He would follow that up on the next drive with a long 41-yard touchdown strike to junior Jayden Roberts in the early minutes of the second quarter.

On the night, Green would finish 5-for-17 for 120 yards through the air for two scores and an interception, while rushing for 29 yards and a score. His second passing strike would come on a 35-yard touchdown to Ethan Smith.

Turnovers would also be plentiful for the Rams in the first half, with the first coming on a big hit from Keiton Camp, which was recovered by defensive lineman Brendan Parsons on the Berry 11-yard line. This drive would come up short though, followed up by a Wildcat interception in the end zone .

The Rams’ second forced turnover of the night would come by way of an interception by Justin Montgomery on a deep ball before the Northside offense stalled.

But defense would steal the show the following drive, with Brendan Parsons coming up big again to force a fumble that was recovered by Davis Perdue with 7:15 left to go in the first half.

As if the first-half fumble and interception were not setbacks enough for the Wildcats, a botched snap on a punt in their own end zone resulted in a first-half safety after Perdue took down the punter in the second quarter's waning minutes.

"We would have liked it to have turn out different, but a lot of turnovers in the first half and it's hard to come back from that," Berry coach Hunter Mims — a former Northside quarterback — told Patch following the game. His father, longtime Northside baseball coach Larry Mims, could be seen sitting on the away side supporting his son.

The second half would be much of the same for the Wildcats, as depth, stout defense and ball control would help the Rams on the way to a win.

Running back Jace McNutt logged one of his two rushing scores in the second half, along with Green to round out the scoreboard for the Rams.

McNutt would end the night with 52 yards on the ground.

The Wildcats' only points on the night would come after Colton Cunningham recovered a fumble for the Wildcats deep in Northside territory. Berry running back Chris'Haun Jennings would then score on a subsequent 8-yard run to get the Wildcats on the board near the end of the third stanza.

Following the win, Hilliker said he was proud of the offensive production, despite the inexperience on that side of the ball.

"We had on the offensive side, probably six guys that this was their first football game," he said, before mentioning the importance of the rivalry win. "We've got a lot to work on, but they played good. It's a big win. We know those kids know a lot of the other kids and with Hunter [Mims], his first game ever as a former Ram."

Upon returning to face his alma mater for his first career game as a head coach, Mims expressed some degree of relief after his first game and said he was already looking ahead to the bye week before taking on South Lamar in two weeks.

"Obviously, I would have liked a different result, but it's good to get that first game out of the way and we have a bye week going into South Lamar," he said. "I'm going to watch a lot of game film on South Lamar and get a game plan there. We've got a full two weeks, so we're going to prep for it."

Northside (1-0) will travel to Winfield next Friday.

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