Berryville back after Super Bowl victory

After carrying the ball 30 times for 200 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bobcats to a 21-16 win over the host Tigers to claim the Carroll County Cup and snap an 11-game losing skid, Chapin didn't have to spend any time thinking of himself. His teammates and his town were taking care of that.

And somewhere, his grandmother was looking on through the drizzling rain that fell on Tiger Stadium.

"We all found a way," Chapin said. "My grandma passed away earlier, right before school started, and I had a pretty tough time. We were pretty close. Every time I got tired or a little stinger I would look up in the sky and do it for her."

Behind Chapin, Berryville overcame an early 13-0 deficit in the first period with two second-quarter touchdowns. It put the finishing touches on the cross-county rivalry with a fourth-quarter score then overcame a late turnover to preserve the victory.

"When we came out they kept saying to watch 22, he's going to get the ball," an emotional Chapin said after the game. "I knew it was going to be a challenge because they all knew who was going to get it."

Berryville coach Eric Daniel continued to feed the ball to Chapin, though he claims he doesn't recall ever putting the ball in one players hands that many times in a game.

"I can only remember once," Daniel said. "But he was running the ball well and Deonte (Payton) was blocking extremely well. He was blocking linebackers twice his size. We found a soft spot and felt like we could exploit."

The Bobcats (1-1) trailed 16-14 entering the half and limited Green Forest (0-3) to 32 second-half yards, including a stop on fourth down following a Chapin fumble with 4:09 remaining. Chapin didn't allow the miscue to dampen his spirits, even with a light rain falling.

"We all found a way down in our hearts," Chapin said. "Every time I got down I would look up to the sky and do it for my grandma. I did it for the team. I did it for the town. I love them all and I did it for them."

Green Forest struck first on a 3-yard touchdown run by Mackenzie Arciga, capping an 11-play, 55-yard drive on the game's opening drive. The Tigers led 13-0 after Clayton Watson hauled in an acrobatic 55-yard touchdown pass from Treyton Anderson at the 2:50 mark on a 3rd-and-18.

"I expect to stop that more times than not," Daniel said. "But they have a good quarterback and he is a great receiver. But our kids didn't come off hanging their heads. They knew they were right there to make that play."

Daniel added that he wasn't fretting after being down two scores early.

"As strange as it sounds I was kind of calm," he said. "Their first drive was spurred by a pass interference. I knew it was coming and the kid knew it was coming. But, that gave them a little spark there with great field position. The second touchdown, both our corner and safety got a hand on the ball. Their kid made an outstanding play. I really thought if we still played this hard the rest of the game that one of those balls were going to bounce our way."

Chapin answered with a 35-yard touchdown grab from Cody Powell with nine minutes left in the second frame.

"That was a very well-thrown ball," Daniel said. "That's what we expect. We expect a good route and a good ball and they both delivered on that."

Green Forest took over after the touchdown but the drive stalled on the Tigers' 40-yard line, forcing a punt, which the Bobcats blocked. Berryville's Brett Sooter slipped his block and laid out for the block at Watson's feet. Dillon Hughes pounced on the ball at the Green Forest 12-yard line and Chapin put the Bobcats ahead 14-13 with a 10-yard jaunt to pay dirt three plays later with 4:33 remaining in the half.

"We worked on a punt block this week," Daniel said. "We talked about it at length last weekend. We thought we found a weakness in the punting game and tried to exploit that. I think a blocked punt is one of the greatest game changers in the game of football."

Green Forest reclaimed the lead on a 19-yard field goal by Eric Perez with 13 seconds remaining on the clock in the opening half. The Tigers appeared to be on the way to scoring their third touchdown but the 16-play drive stalled, due at least in part to Berryville's Tate Ferguson making a stop behind the line of scrimmage on 1st-and-goal from the 8-yard line.

"We felt pretty good going into the half," Daniel said. "We were going to get the ball out of halftime. But it was big that Tate Ferguson made that play. They ran a jet sweep and he came up and got him."

The Bobcats did get the ball after the half but went three and out on their first possession. Selvin Reyes' 35-yarder bounced off the return man and eventually resulted in a turnover as Ferguson came up with the loose ball.

"That was a big play," Daniel said. "Last year we complained about all these sophomores. But a sophomore (Ferguson) makes a play to force them into the field goal. Then on the muffed punt, our two gunners (Richard Webb and Garrett Stone) are sophomores. Then Ferguson jumps on the loose ball. I think there were six people piled up on the ball and they were all Bobcats."

The two teams traded punches throughout the third period before Chapin struck again early in the fourth with a 31-yard touchdown scamper two minutes into the fourth that put Berryville ahead for good.

"I saw the hole open up and said thank you God and thank you line," Chapin said. "We were just blocking it really well and they weren't stopping it so we kept going back to it. Good call by coach."

Daniel found something along Green Forest's defensive front that played to Berryville's advantage.

"We had a couple of more plays that we had worked on but with the field as wet as it was we decided to not go there," Daniel said. "They were faster than I thought. We found us a couple of plays that were working very well and we stuck with those plays."

Green Forest had one final opportunity with four minutes left when Chapin put the ball on the soggy turf after Hector Lopez forced the fumble.

"He hit the ball just right," Chapin said. "At first I was heartbroken. I couldn't have felt any lower. But then I thought of our fans and the players, my grandma, and said you know what 'm going to pick my head up and do it for them."

Green Forest took over at the Bobcats' 38-yard line but managed only four yards on four straight passing plays, the first aimed directly at Chapin.

"That was a great play," Daniel said of the forced fumble. "He came in and put his face mask on the football. Ethan had both hands on the ball. It's one of those that's almost forgivable. And he was down after that. I told him we still had a lot of ball left and we were going to make a play here. They pick on him the next play and he goes up and knocks the ball down."

Berryville took over on downs and Chapin rattled off runs of 21 and 28 yards to push the ball inside the Green Forest 5-yard line. Cody Powell took the final snap and a knee as time expired, setting off a celebration at mid-field.