Marie Collop, Campus Carrier Assistant Sports Editor
As the Berry football team plays their first home and conference game against Rhodes this Saturday, be sure to keep an eye out for sophomore outside linebacker Preston Stewart, who was the first Viking football player to earn the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) defensive player of the week honors last week.
Stewart won this award because of his efforts in the LaGrange game last weekend. During the game, Stewart set a school record with four sacks (when the quarterback is tackled from behind the line of scrimmage) totaling losses of 36 yards and nine total tackles, eight of them being individual tackles.
Head coach Tony Kunczewski said that Stewart’s physicality and athleticism contributed to winning the SAA award.
“Physically, he is very imposing, 6-foot-1, 240 pounds, very strong and athletic,” Kunczewski said. “He brings a unique blend of size, speed and power. He’s tough to block.”
Linebacker coach Eric Garcia said Stewart’s intangible characteristics, like tenacity and drive, willed him to win the award.
“The fact that he has the will and the drive to accomplish his goal and not let anything stand in his way, his God-given ability, his motor and his fortitude are things you just can’t coach,” Garcia said.
Both Garcia and Kunczewski said the most imperative part to Stewart’s success is incorporating him into the game plan as much as possible, giving him the opportunity to make outstanding plays.
Stewart himself attributes his recent success to his coaches’ game plan and his teammates’ efforts.
“Honestly, the play of the other interior defensive linemen and the linebackers helped me out a lot. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to make the plays that I did,” Stewart said.
Along with Stewart, attendees to the first home football game this weekend should look forward to seeing a much-improved product, especially on the offensive side of the football, Kunczewski said. Getting the ball to receivers, sophomore Chris Lilly (first-team all SAA 2013) and sophomore Trey Ciresi, who are both playmakers, Kunczewski said, will be adamant to the Vikings success on Saturday.
“The receiving core is the strength of team right now,” Kunczewski said.
On the defensive side of the ball, along with Stewart, the Vikings look to captains sophomore linebacker Matt Farinella and sophomore Anthony Batey, who both had key interceptions against LaGrange last week, Kunczewski said.
Along with offense and defense, sophomore punter Mitchell Blanchard is on track to have another outstanding year after being named to the first team all-SAA last season, Kunczewski said.
The Vikings look to open their two-game home stand against a worthy opponent in Rhodes, who comes into the game with a 3-0 record and holds the title of conference champions from 2013.
“I wish our schedule got easier, but it doesn’t,” Kunczewski said. “Rhodes is going to be a very difficult opponent, who was four points away from having an undefeated record last season.”
A big component to success for the Vikings on Saturday will be stopping the run game on defense because Rhodes has the ability to run and pass the ball, Kunczewski said. Along with stopping the run, he said the team needs to work on developing a run game of their own. Both stopping the run game and developing their own run game have been focuses of the team during the last bye week.
Berry football will face off against Rhodes at 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 27 at Barron Stadium in the first home game of the season.