Berthoud Weekly Surveyor | Covering all the angles in the Garden Spot

Panther’s pounce on Spartans to end football season

By: Will Cornelius | The Surveyor | November 11, 2022 | Football

Conditions were dry and cold on Saturday as Berthoud High School traveled out west to face Delta High School in the first round of the 2A state football playoffs. The Delta Panthers were undefeated over nine games in the regular season and captured the top seed in the playoffs. Returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2018, the Spartans secured the final 16-seed spot with a 6-3 record over the regular season.

Photo by William Woody/Special to the Daily Sentinel

The game began with the Spartans returning the opening kickoff to their 15-yard line. Junior Alex Larson then burst through the defense for two first downs on Berthoud’s first two offensive snaps. After another first down and crossing midfield, Delta’s defense held strong and forced a fourth down with four yards to go.

The offense stayed on the field looking to keep the momentum going. Spartans quarterback Skyler Streicher then took the snap and dropped back before firing a dart to tight end Aiden McGrath on an out at the right hash mark for another first down. Another robust showing by the Panther’s defense forced another fourth and short. This time the Spartans failed to convert after attempting a run up the middle and turned the ball over on downs.

Delta began their offense with fierce running from Konner Workman, who broke free for a 39-yard scamper down the left side of the field to put them in Berthoud territory. But the very next play saw Spartan senior Ben Hughes intercept a pass off a deflected wide receiver screen. Berthoud was unable to capitalize and went three and out, punting the ball back to Delta who started at their 21-yard line.

Panther’s quarterback Ty Reed came out leading the Delta offense, looking to shake off the turnover from the previous drive. After two quarterback runs were stuffed at the line and a holding penalty went against the Panthers, the offense faced third and long in their red zone. Lining up in shotgun formation with four wide receivers, Reed dropped back and threw a deep bomb down the middle to a wide-open Damien Gallegos. Gallegos caught the ball and raced into the endzone for an 83-yard touchdown. After a successful extra point, Delta led 7-0.

The ensuing Spartan drive ended after two plays with an interception by the Panther’s Workman. Starting with the ball in the red zone, Delta ran five running plays before Landan Clay, the Panther’s leading touchdown scorer in the regular season, punched the ball in from the one-yard line for another Delta touchdown. The second extra point of the game sailed through the uprights and the score was 14-0 a few minutes into the second quarter. The tight battle earlier in the game began to dissipate as the Panthers scored four more unanswered touchdowns to finish the game in a shutout.

Another short field before the end of the half gave Delta another short rushing touchdown. The second half began with Berthoud attempting an onside kick that the Panthers recovered at midfield. After trading punts, Delta struck again with a fake wide receiver screen that left Brett Lahoe uncovered deep on the left sideline as he caught a 33-yard touchdown. On the next drive, the Spartans started to build momentum with two first downs before a devastating interception return for a touchdown by the Panther’s Workman extinguished any remaining hope for Berthoud. Another late passing touchdown from Reed in the fourth quarter ended the game 42-0 for Delta.

While the season ended in the first round of the playoffs, it was a vast improvement from last year when the team went 1-8. Berthoud Coach Cory Ticnor wished the Spartans were able to capitalize earlier in the game on missed opportunities but was proud of how the season panned out. “I think once we kinda take a step back in a couple of weeks, I’ll be pretty satisfied with how this season went,” he said. “You gotta take your hats off to Delta, they’re a good program.”

Playing the top-seeded team in the playoffs was never going to be easy. Coach Ticnor expected Delta to be ready for Berthoud’s rushing attack, so the team was prepared to pass the ball. “We had some success against nine-man boxes against some other teams, but we knew that that probably wouldn’t happen against Delta. So, we had a passing attack ready to go, and we had a little bit of success with it, but obviously, we weren’t able to get the ball inside the red zone and get in the endzone.”

Berthoud’s offense was led by Larson and Streicher. Larson came into the game with 1,190 yards rushing on the season. Against a stout Panther defense, Larson still managed 72 yards on 19 carries. Streicher was forced to pass more than usual against Delta, connecting on 10 passes from 22 attempts for 75 yards through the air but also throwing three interceptions.

Reed and Workman led the Panthers statistically. While only throwing 13 times, Reed connected on seven passes for 180 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Workman’s contribution came on both sides of the ball. Offensively he ran the ball 11 times for 86 yards. But on defense, he was even more lethal with 14 tackles, two sacks, and two interceptions, one of which he returned 50 yards for a touchdown to seal the game. Rushing scores from Clay and Esai Carrillo rounded out the rest of Delta’s scoring.

With an eye on the future, Coach Ticnor was excited about the progress made this year and the players returning next year. “When you have a returning roster like we look to have, it’s an excitement for the entire program in the offseason,” he said. There is also the added surprise of new players next season. “Berthoud’s a growing town, so we’ll probably get 3 or 4 players that I don’t even know exist yet,” Ticnor said with excitement.

Delta High School will face Alamosa High School at home in the quarterfinals of the playoffs this weekend.

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