SATURDAY’S GAMES
Point at Webber International, noon
Reinhardt at Cumberland, 1 p.m.
Hendrix at Berry, 1 p.m.
Jirah Prep at Georgia Military College, 1 p.m.
Gardner-Webb at Kennesaw State, 1 p.m.
Morehouse at Albany State, 2 p.m.
Clark Atlanta at Benedict, 2 p.m.
N.C. Central at Savannah State, 2 p.m.
Mississippi College at Valdosta State, 2 p.m.
Shorter at West Alabama, 3 p.m.
East Tennessee State at Mercer, 4 p.m.
Florida Tech at Fort Valley State, 6 p.m.
Huntingdon at LaGrange, 6 p.m.
New Mexico State at Georgia Southern, 6 p.m.
West Georgia at Delta State, 7 p.m.
Preston Stewart isn’t surprised by Berry’s success.
He’s been there since the program’s beginning and has seen the progress, which has transformed into victories this season.
“We might be catching some people by surprise, but we’re not catching ourselves by surprise,” said Stewart, an outside linebacker who leads the Vikings with 5.5 sacks. “We left a lot of games on the table last year, and with as much work and practice as we put in over the summer and in camp, I knew we’d have a good shot.”
Berry is 5-1 in the program’s third season and has more than doubled its victory total from its first two seasons combined (2-17).
The Vikings, who have won five consecutive games, are 4-0 in Division III’s Southern Athletic Association heading into Saturday’s game against Hendrix, which is 3-0 in the SAA.
Stewart (Riverwood), lineman Mamadou Soumahoro (Berkmar), this week’s SAA defensive player of the week, and leading tacklers Matt Farinella and Evan Breakspear (Jackson County), spark a 3-4 defense that leads the conference in scoring at 14.8 points, (28th in the nation).
The Vikings have allowed only three touchdowns in the past 18 quarters and two overtimes.
“You’ve got to be able to win with defense and special teams,” coach Tony Kunczewski said. “We have some guys up front who can get to the quarterback, so we don’t have to blitz a lot. We can use three guys to get pressure, sometimes four. If you can get pressure with four, that certainly helps.”
Berry started the program in 2013, and Division III programs don’t provide athletic scholarships.
“The first two years were the building blocks for this year, part of the maturation process,” Kunczewski said. “Year 1, we were freshmen taking our lumps. Year 2, we lost four games by six points or less. This year, we’re figuring out how to finish games. We have a lot of tough guys. We’re bigger, stronger and have a lot of mental and physical toughness.”
Etc.: Georgia Southern will wear white helmets with the "GS" logo "made famous by country music superstar Cole Swindell" on one side, a blue stripe and a jersey number on the other side, a school release stated. … Former Syracuse receiver Ashton Broyld and defensive lineman Wayne Williams are at West Georgia. Broyld led Syracuse with 52 catches and 452 yards in 2013, but was kicked off the team for a rules violation this summer. He has three catches for 25 yards, and Williams has six tackles. … Cedric O'Neal (Dublin) set Valdosta State's career touchdown record by scoring twice last week. He has 37 career touchdowns.
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