Catholic stays unbeaten with 40-14 romp over Berry

The undefeated Charlotte Catholic Cougars, after a two-week layoff, faced a stiff challenge against a Berry Cardinals team that came in at 3-1.

After yielding a touchdown on the game’s opening drive, Catholic scored 40 unanswered points and remained unbeaten at 4-0 with a 40-14 win over Berry Friday night at Catholic. It was the first So. Meck 8 conference game for both schools.

In its three previous games Catholic had only given up six points and had two shutouts. The Cardinals shocked the Cougars when they took the opening kickoff and scored in just four plays. The big play was a 71-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bryan Digsby to wide receiver Kusegi Cureton.

What was going through the minds of the Cougars players after falling behind so quickly?

“Honestly we were kind of disappointed just being a shutout defense and only giving up six points all season,” said Catholic defensive end Reed Brandt, who spent plenty of time in the Berry backfield. “Our coaches kept a level head and we just kept our game plan going.”

That they did. Catholic scored on its next possession going 80 yards in seven plays, with all but one play not run by the Cougars star running back Jaret Anderson. A 16-yard touchdown run by Anderson pulled the Cougars even with Berry at 7.

Catholic scored on three of its next four possessions and the Cougars defense kept the Cardinals offense at bay for a 26-7 halftime advantage.

Catholic then scored on two of its first three second-half possessions to build a 40-7 third-quarter lead. Most of the Catholic starters were finished for the night after three quarter and the Cougars cruised to the victory.

Anderson had a monster game with 252 yards on 23 carries and three rushing touchdowns of 16, 1 and 80 yards through only three quarters of work. Catholic quarterback John Walton also tossed two touchdown passes, both to John Newman, of 43 and 14 yards.

Worth mentioning: Linebacker Richon Green had a big game, leading the Cardinals in tackles and also scoring Berry’s second touchdown when he recovered a Catholic fumble in the end zone in the fourth quarter. Berry’s Cureton hauled in 12 passes for 204 yards and one touchdown, while Digsby went 20 of 37 for 267 yards and one touchdown.

Quote: “I definitely used some of the tactics that my coaches taught me like widening out and using my speed. We do drills in practice where we manipulate the hands of the offensive player, and I use those techniques.” Brandt on his success in putting pressure on the quarterback.

Records: Berry (3-2, 0-1 So. Meck 8), Charlotte Catholic (4-0, 1-0)

What’s Next: Catholic will travel to Harding this Friday night to meet the Rams at 7 p.m. Berry will host undefeated South Mecklenburg at 7 p.m.

This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 11:34 PM with the headline "Catholic stays unbeaten with 40-14 romp over Berry."