Doylestown, PA.   O-V-E-R-Time…the rules state that a coin flip takes place, with the winning team having the option either 1) to declare that they will take the ball first or second, or 2) to decide on which end of the field the series will occur (both teams' series occur on the same end of the field). The losing team will have the first option in any subsequent even-numbered overtime. In the first overtime, the team with first series attempts to score either a touchdown or a field goal; their possession ends when either a touchdown or a field goal have been scored, they turn the ball over via a fumble or an interception, or they fail to gain a first down. After a touchdown, a team may attempt either an extra-point or a two-point conversion. (However, if the team on defense during the first series recovers a fumble and returns it for a touchdown, or returns an interception for a touchdown, the defensive team wins the game. This is the only way for a college overtime game to end without both teams having possession.) Regardless of the outcome of the first team's series (be it touchdown, field goal, or turnover), the other team begins their series. If the score remains tied after both teams have completed a series, a second overtime begins. If the score remains tied after two overtimes, teams scoring touchdowns are required to attempt a two-point conversion from the third overtime on. Just as in regulation, if a defensive team recovers a fumble/returns an interception to the end zone during a two-point conversion attempt, they will receive two points.  OK, now you know the rules as recently change according to the NCAA.  Coming off the bye week, the Bears are ready to play.
  Since 2004 is the last time that Berean Institute won a football game, Saturday ended their losing streak of 18 games with a fantastic finish in overtime versus a good Del Val team..  Although many of those games were lost by a total of 14 points Coach Dunlap was ready to turn the team around.  Taking on Division III local powerhouse, Delaware Valley (2-4) in a Sunday afternoon game.
   Del Val wanted to make a statement from the start sending their fastest receiver out on a streak pattern against Berean’s top defender, Donovan Godfrey (Miami Senior, FL).  The 60 yard pass play up the sideline from the 20 yard line just a bit too far as Godfrey was better than step for step in front of the receiver slowing him down from getting to the ball.  By the time Del Val receiver jogged back to the huddle, he said to the Godfrey “guess I’ll see you again?”  “All Day” says Godfrey with his play on their best receiver, it was clear that Del Val was shocked at the athleticism of the Berean Bears defensive backs.  Going deep was not going to be as easy as Del Val coaches had thought.
   However,  Del Val scored on the first series of the game with a short run in the first quarter, but the extra point was blocked by Paul Hand (Olney H.S., Philadelphia, PA) and a host of Berean defensive lineman up the middle.  Starting the first quarter with a 6 – 0 lead.  Del Val looked confident because a average size of their lineman was 6’3” – 305lb. from starters to back-ups.  Pounding the ball was Del Val best source for getting to the endzone.  Although their 6’4” quarterback was elusive as holding sand in your hand, he only found his receiver on short routes that didn’t accumulate to much yardage.
   Berean’s offensive line showed some life opening holes for new running back triple threats Jesse Murphy (Hartford Tech-Aberdeen, MD), Amir Muhammed (University City-Phila, PA), and Jeremiah Pitt (Delaware State bound).  The 3 combined for over 205 yards of rushing and 11 first downs while sustaining their pass blocking giving the multiple quarterback system of Offensive Coordinator Marquan Mutazz.  Starting quarterback Davon Meyers (Truman HS-Bronx, NY) was somewhat successful dropping back and taking off running for 4 first downs eliminating sacks.  But when Mark Ingram (Weequahic HS-Newark, NJ) checked in the game, it gave the receiver’s some option at the velocity of balls coming their way.   Although throwing an interception on a would-be first down, Ingram showed the poise in the pocket to lift the spirits of the team.  “The Athlete”, also known as Antoine Williams (West Side H.S.-Newark, NJ) plays dual roles in the offense as a slot receiver and the running quarterback.  Following behind the 14 pancake blocks of Seve Rivers (Rancocas Valley H.S.- Mt. Holly, NJ) and 10 pancake blocks by Frank Matias (Camden Catholic – Camden, NJ), Williams gave spark to the offensive line and energy to the backfield.  Unfortunately ending the half scoreless trailing 13 – 0, Berean coaches jogged into the locker room to utilize their time wisely due to the unusually short halftime break of 10 minutes, to make adjustments on the offensive and the defensive side of the ball.
   Coming back from halftime, Coach Dunlap decided to change up the combination of players to find the right fit for the system they were running and give different players a chance to prove their worth.  Running himself exhausted, Rufus Skipworth (Dobbins AVTS-Phila, PA) going sideline to sideline and laying down hard hits stunning the Del Val running backs and receivers.  After the first series Del Val was stopped convincingly ending their drive with only a field goal.  Leading 16 – 0.  But the Berean offense wouldn’t give up that easy after Jeremiah Pitt led the way down the field and Jesse Murphy carried4 Del Val defenders down the field for another first down, Berean was moving in the right direction.  Eventually capping off the drive with a bruising touchdown run by Jesse Murphy also getting the 2 point conversion bring the score to 16 – 8.
   Late in the  4^th quarter  Berean driving up the field was the highlight of a comeback to be.  But the drive ended with a 35 yard touchdown pass to flashy receiver Bobby Curry (Woodrow Wilson-Camden, NJ) being intercepted by one of the triple coverage defenders.  Thus giving the ball back to Del Val to start yet another drive down the field.  After crossing the 50 yard line Del Val looked as though they were about to score another touchdown.  The quarterback threw a deep 35 yard pass into the endzone to his favorite target, but was intercepted by Andrew Peurifoy (Washington Township-Sicklerville, NJ) and returned for 35 yards into Del Val’s territory.  Finally after a successful defensive series, the offense had some life which drove down the field to the 8 yard line.  After being stopped on the run, Davon Meyers found 6’5” tight end Tyrell Johnson (East Orange Campus H.S.-East Orange, NJ) in the end zone for the touchdown.  Soon after, Tyrell Johnson also was the receiver of the tying 2 point conversion.
   As the game came down to the final 3 minutes, Del Val offense used some much needed rest as the defense was on the field for about 10 minutes.  This giving them the drive to go up and down the field.  After getting into the red zone, David Rickard (Malcom X Shabazz H.S. – Newark, NJ) stuffed the running back trying to the get the first down on their last set of downs.  With Berean having to almost 80 yards to score, it was a dim task at hand.  But Davon Meyers, launched a 65 yard pass up the right side to a streaking Antoine Williams clearly beating the defender by 5 yards to catch the deep ball as he leaped for it landing and being shoved out of bounds.  Only to be called incomplete by the sideline referee although Williams did have one foot in bound sand was pushed out.  On the very next play, Coach Mutazz saw a breakdown in the Del Val safety’s position after running that deep and decided to throw another deep ball.  This time the 60 yard pass was on the left side to the speedy Chris Ruiz (Camden Catholic H.S. - Camden, NJ) was caught for Berean’s longest pass of the season.  Getting to the 20 yard line, Berean had just one play left before the end of regulation.  Meyers threw the ball to Ronnie Williams (Willingboro H.S. – Willingboro, NJ) in the right corner of the endzone only to be intercepted ending the game with a 16 – 16 tie.
   Going into overtime, Berean won the coin toss and opted to defend first giving Del Val the choice of which end of the field to place the ball.  Obviously deciding to start on the end where the only scoreboard was, this was the first chance for Del Val to get into the endzone.  After 2 positive yardage plays of 13 yards, Del Val was looking to get a little closer to possibly kick a game-winning field goal, but the quarterback running towards the sideline trying to get more yards was hit so hard by Rufus Skipworth, he coughed up the ball and Berean’s Justin Rey (Paterson East Side – Paterson, NJ) picked up the fumble ending the Del Val drive.  Giving Berean the same opportunity starting from the 25 yard line.
   This time, not taking chances Mutazz right straight up the middle behind Seve Rivers, Frank Matias, and Kenny Marcelin.  Gaining 12 yards on the 2 plays putting Berean within striking distance.  But Berean, without a field goal kicker needed to score in order to win the game.  So, Davon Meyers dropping back looking for a window to throw the ball saw the glimpse of his prime target of the day, Tyrell Johnson and let it fly….”CAUGHT! – CAUGHT! – no flags!  The game is over!” Shouted the radio station WGDP (GameDay Promotions) the official broadcasters and reporters of Berean Bears Football.  Berean won the game 22 – 16 giving them some momentum before the next game against Alfred State in New York.
   The days player of the game on defense, Rufus Skipworth with 12 tackles, 2 balls deflected and the hard hitting fumble.  The offensive player of the game, obviously goes to none other than the “mouth of the south” Tyrell Johnson catching 4 passes for 35 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 two point conversion.  “I’ve been open all day long, I just had to have faith in my quarterback and he did a good job of finding me and I just brought it in.  We’ve been working hard all week long after the bye week and it paid off,” says Johnson.  Quarterback Meyers says, “the play was well designed, when I saw Tyrell crossing my line of sight, I tried to squeeze it in there.”  The players did a great job coming from behind, this was a total team effort and team victory, says Head Coach Dunlap.
   Their next home game is against Lackawanna College, ranked 5^th in the country in NJCAA on October 20^th for Homecoming Alumni Day, go to website for more details.  Hosted by Philadelphia Sports Training Center there will also be the NFL’s Punt-Pass-Kick competition which is FREE of charge to all participants, boys and girls ages 8 – 15.  To get registered, sign up at www.BereanSports.com.  Events schedule are a Halloween Costume contest, 50/50 drawing, and feature public address announcer Dennis Hannan (www.HannanTheVoice.com), Philly’s Hottest DJ, DJ Stevie Bee and Pyramid Temple Drumline will perform at Halftime along with South Philadelphia Mummers parade.

   Orchard Park, NY.  Typical football weather in the upper west corner of the state of New York.  Just a slight wind, around 68 degree’s, and of course rainy.  This day was anything but typical of Coach Dunlap’s Berean Bears (1-2) once again traveling over 5 hours by charter bus to take on Erie Community College (2-0)Although arriving the day before to their luxurious hotel accommodations, the Bears thought they had a good night’s rest ready to start the game off on a good start.  But Erie’s defense had another thing in mind.  Just as in Game 2 versus the Hudson Valley defense, the Bears were unable to protect the quarterback from yet another safety.  Playing tough and protecting the quarterback are critical to set the tone on the offense, but within the first two minutes Erie’s defense got the best of the Berean offensive line.
   Just as the Philadelphia Eagles thought they had their special teams situation under control, it seemed as though they were just as mistaken as the Berean Bears were.  A program in the NJCAA for the second year and in the fourth year of existence as the only county of Philadelphia junior college football team had the same problems the Eagles seemed to have in holding onto the football.  At least, the Berean Bears didn’t lose the game at the last 10 seconds, but this week Coach Dunlap say, “Special Teams killed us today.”  The bright spot of the special teams on the day in a bittersweet moral victory was the fact that Berean outplayed the Erie team in kickoff yards managing to rack up nine (9) kickoff returns for 171 yards compared to Erie’s mere 1 kickoff return for 15 yards.  But of course that means that Erie as kicking the ball after scoring more times than needed from the start of the game.  Another bright spot on the special teams was the barrage of punting done by starting linebacker, Jamal Jackson, 10 punts averaging almost 35 yards.  This stat although better than Erie’s dismal 5 punts for about 33 yards was out done by Erie’s punt return team with 8 punt returns for 114 yards, of which one was a juke move here and there with a little dash up the middle and some help from the lack of tackling from the Berean Bears punt defense led to 59 yard touchdown about 5 minutes into the second quarter.
   In front of a crowd of around 500 people, Berean was not willing to give up that fast.  Speaking of fast, Bobby Curry, the team’s only scorer for the season with one touchdown was difficult to keep up with for the Erie defensive secondary.  Despite the 6’2” and 195lb strong frame, the average defensive secondary was only able to hold Bobby to two (2) receptions for 68 yards.  The defensive front line from Erie chased the quarterbacks around so much that scramble routes (those routes that the receivers have to find a way to get open) looked like well designed plays from quarterback Mark Ingram as he did his best Brett Farve imitation to make something happen and just heave the ball in the air allowing the Terrell Owens body type receiver to come under the ball for a stellar catch.  As the offensive yards primarily came from Bobby Curry’s receiving yards, the other bright spot was that although Mark Ingram threw the ball 16 times with only 3 completions – NO INTERCEPTIONS!
   Besides the poor effort from the special teams, and offensively fumbling the ball 6 times between 5 different players, the defense was anchored by Tyrone Johnson with 7 tackles and 3 sacks; Michael Magee with 7 tackles and 1 sack; and Jamal Jackson 6 tackles and 1 sack.
   The defense did the best job it could leaving everything they had on the field and dominating the offensive line of Erie, but tackling is a fundamental drill that Berean will be focusing on this week at practice due to the fact that Erie’s Andre Hakeem rushed 5 times for 71 yards and Brian Fowler 6 rushes for 46 yards, that just added to Aaron Valetin’s 3 catches for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Ending the game 53 – 0 was an understatement of the job the defense performed.
   This weeks player of the game goes to: Offense, Bobby Curry & Defense, Mike Magee and Tyrone Johnson.  These player were standouts for Berean among the host of players that gave their all in the game, but we recognize their efforts to hopefully improve the team’s moral and lead the way in showing the team’s athletic ability.  The Bears have a few more games to improve before they take on national powerhouse Lackawanna College, currently ranked 6^th in the country.
   Next Saturday, September 15th the Bears travel a little closer to Media, PA to play Williamson Trade.  Their next home game although is against Lackawanna College, ranked 6th in the country in NJCAA on October 20th for Homecoming.  Hosted by Philadelphia Sports Training Center there will also be the NFL’s Punt-Pass-Kick competition which is FREE of charge to all participants, boys and girls ages 8 – 15.  To get registered, sign up at www.BereanSports.com.  Also there will be a Halloween Costume contest, 50/50 drawing, and feature public address announcer Dennis Hannan (www.HannanTheVoice.com) and Philly’s Hottest DJ.

  Troy, NY.  In Berean Institute’s (1-1) first game for the 2007 season, they battled a tough challenge in the well organized, well funded, and well rounded Hudson Valley Community College (1-0).  Making the over 4 hour trip to Troy, NY just outside Albany, the first capital of New York was a nice scenic ride through the mountains, rural cities, and of course Labor Day traffic.  This was nearly the problem of the day facing the Berean Bears first actual contest since their first game was forfeited versus Pittsburgh Metro.
   Coach Dunlap and the staff were excited about the game and had some concerns to address to the team prior to the game.  Playing a tough defensive first quarter against the Hudson Valley offensive lineman, averaging 302 pounds from starters to backups was one the new challenges for the Bears.  But the defense was anchored by mature 21 year old linebacker, Paul Hand (6’3” – 260lb).  Who had plenty of help from his other linebackers with the speed to pursuit sideline-to-sideline.  After holding the Hudson Valley offense to zero points in the first quarter, the Bears had some excitement in their eyes.  Until one of their most popular teammates respectively known as “A-T-L”, Branden Bailey, OL (6’0” – 300lb) from Atlanta, GA went down with a possible knee injury.  After the doctors finally recovered information about a previously reconstructed knee repair from ninth grade in high school, “ATL” was sidelined for the rest of the game.
   The Bears losing steam in the second quarter was pushed back into their own end zone following some costly penalties and mental errors common with first game jitters against a predominantly organized and less talented Hudson Valley team compared to last years team.  The Bears were still in the game after a few goal line stands led by Paul Hand, Leandro Encarncion, and Joshua Cox.  Although the defense was doing their best, the offense had their work cut out for them trying to hold down the big and fast defensive line from Hudson Valley.  Offensive Coordinator Marquan Mutazz decided to go to the air to open up the field but was thwarted by an interception that led to an immediate touchdown for the Hudson Valley team.
   Just before closing out the halftime on defense, Berean was tainted with a mental breakdown in the secondary when Hudson Valley dropped back with less than 10 seconds on the clock, being chased down by Paul Hand, Joey Davis, James Quinn, and a host of defenders in hot pursuit but as the ball was released from the quarterback it seemed to be in the air for 5 minutes even though it was only for approximately 50 yards.  But unfortunately a tall, lanky, speedy Hudson Valley receiver was in the mix of 6 players and came away with the catch then fell another 3 yards into the end zone to presumably end the half reading 00:00 on the clock.  Not to sneak off into the locker room just yet, Berean had to wait just a little more time due to a penalty flag that was thrown back at the 45 yard line for defensive holding.  Making the players go back and forth to the field then back off again, because Hudson Valley decided to decline the penalty.  Ending the half 0 – 16.
   After an impressive pep talk from Head Coach Brett Dunlap and some adjustments to the offensive line, Coach Mutazz had to figure out the right combination of quarterbacks to go with the pressure from Hudson Valley.  Eventually, Berean would use all 4 quarterbacks that made the travel team.  The running quarterback (also wide receiver) Antoine Williams was a spark plug to the rush of the Hudson Valley defense, but only to be sidelined with a shoulder injury late in the third quarter.  Although Special Teams Coordinator Alphonso Stevenson was playing a chess match finding the right pieces for his punt and kickoff team, Hudson Valley was able to find daylight to the end zone on their first kickoff following the safety and once again for a long run in the third quarter.  Stopping Hudson Valley was beginning to be hopeless even with tough defense led by Paul Hand with 18 tackles, 1 sack, and a fumble recovery and Donovan Godfrey with 8 tackles and 2 interceptions.
   Besides some mental mistakes in this game that could have went either way, Berean has their work cut out for them in finding the right combination to open their game plan up to run and pass.  The defense was passionate throughout the game and held their ground at key moments.  Just a little mistake here and there led to points on the board for the powerhouse Hudson Valley team.
   Coach Dunlap gave the players the day off on Labor Day Monday, but I’m sure few will be heading to the beach and opt for going home or just contemplating how to come together as a team to get organized from start to finish.  Offensive Player of the game was Amos Crudup and Defensive Player of the Game was Paul Hand.
   Next Saturday, September 8^th the Bears travel on another long-distance road trip to Orchard Park, NY to play Erie Community College.  Their next home game although is against Lackawanna College, ranked 9^th in the country in NJCAA on October 20^th for Homecoming.  Hosted by Philadelphia Sports Training Center there will also be the NFL’s Punt-Pass-Kick competition which is FREE of charge to all participants, boys and girls ages 8 – 15.  To get registered, sign up at www.BereanSports.com.