Defense shines, including a game-saving interception in the fourth quarter.

Michael Earhart and Brandon Park, Viking Fusion Reporters 

The Berry College football team pushed past Hendrix College 27-24 at home Saturday afternoon to claim sole possession of the top rung of the Southern Athletic Association conference ladder.

The home win was the sixth straight for the 6-1 Vikings, who move to a perfect 5-0 in the SAA.

The loss drops Hendrix to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference, the only other conference foe to enter Saturday with an unblemished record.

A long gain in the air to Berry wide receiver Trey Ciresi set up Berry’s second touchdown. Photo by Michael Earhart.

Clinging to a 3-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Vikings punted to the Warriors’ 7-yard line with 1:14 left on the clock. Hendrix drove to Berry’s 29-yard line with 17 seconds left, but  Warrior quarterback Seth Peters threw a game-ending interception to Shayne Edwards in the end zone with nine ticks to go.

“[My hair] is mostly gray now,” said Tony Kunczewski, Berry’s third-year head coach. “Whether that’s from football or not, I don’t know, but it’s important to just focus on what you can do and control in those last few minutes. My players have been great in high pressure situations, and they keep pulling it out.”

Hendrix took the day’s first lead in the second quarter when Warrior kicker Steve Crenshaw made good on a 23-yard field goal attempt, his only success in three tries on the afternoon. The Warriors went up 10-0 after Hendrix’s Joe-Dean Shipp recovered an onside kick. That set up a 4-yard rush for a touchdown by Dayton Winn.

But the Vikings roared back, scoring a pair of touchdowns before halftime to go up 14-10 at the break. The Berry defense got the comeback started by holding the Warriors to three plays and out to set up the Vikings’ scoring.

Viking running back Austin Lowe scored the first on a 1-yard rush with four minutes remaining in the second quarter. Two minutes later, Berry quarterback Dale Jackson III found Chris Lilly in the end zone from three yards out.

Berry built on the first-half momentum to begin the second half. In the third quarter’s first 20 seconds, Jackson threw a 26-yard strike, again to Lilly, to push the lead to 20-10.

In perhaps the game’s most dramatic play, Berry’s Tristen Cline returned a botched punt by Hendrix 28 yards for Berry’s final score. Warrior punter Garret Wolf kicked the ball into the back of Berry lineman Spencer Smith. Cline caught the ricochet in mid-air and rolled in for the score.

Turnovers were a big factor in the game. Hendrix also fumbled the ball on the opening kickoff of the second half to give Berry the ball on the Warriors’ 26-yard line.

And the Berry defense, led by Matt Ferinella with 13 tackles, including 6 solo tackles, had several crucial stops Saturday afternoon.

On the day, Jackson went 13-for-24 for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Lilly caught six passes for 65 yards and both of Jackson’s passing TDs. These numbers were good enough to offset Peters’s production. The Hendrix quarterback went 26-for-39 for 292 yards and a pair of touchdowns of his own. One of the nation’s more prolific players, Peters added 47 yards on the ground on 10 rushes.

Berry takes on Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., at 2 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 31.