Photos by Will Cornelius
Quarterback Darin Davidson (#3) threw for 239 yards and three touchdowns.

By Will Cornelius
The Surveyor

The football coaching staff at Berthoud High School worked all-offseason to expand the team’s passing attack after relying on a run-heavy offense last season. Just two weeks into the season, it has been a resounding success.

On Sept. 1, the Spartans routed the Valley High School Vikings 41-0 thanks to a suffocating defense and a newly deployed passing attack.

“They sat in that man coverage look and we decided throughout the week that if they sat in man coverage, we needed to develop our pass game and show it off. Really make a statement that we can throw the football,” said Spartan offensive coordinator Daniel Francis postgame.

Senior quarterback Darin Davidson unleashed on the hapless Vikings with three passing touchdowns. “It felt amazing,” Davidson said after the game. “The offensive line did great. Overall, amazing job by them.”

“Darin’s a dawg!” Skyler Streicher yelled out after the game to congratulate Davidson. Streicher and Davidson were locked in a tight quarterback battle all off-season before Davidson was announced the starter two weeks ago. But thankfully, iron sharpens iron in the Berthoud backfield as the two have pushed each other to improve as passers.

Against the Vikings, Davidson completed 12-of-19 passes for 239 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers. It is the most passing touchdowns for a Spartan since 2020 and the most passing yards since 2017. Davidson also added 16 yards rushing on 5 carries, but it could have been even more if a 51-yard touchdown run in the third quarter had not been called back on a dubious blocking penalty.

“Darin is special. We are excited to have him back. He’s retained a lot of the stuff we taught him his sophomore year, it’s awesome,” said Francis about the senior quarterback.

Six different players caught passes from Davidson, with junior Weston Peatrowsky leading the way with three receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown. The other touchdowns were caught by Jayden Michaelis and Justin Mills.

“Darin had a great game. Our receivers really stepped up. But our offensive line played amazing today. Our offensive line dominated this game from the start,” said Head Football Coach Cory Ticnor about the offense.

The offensive line excelled at Gilcrest in both pass blocking and opening running lanes. Senior captain and starting right tackle, Donovan Mann said holding one another accountable and striving to always get better is making the unit unstoppable. “We’re just going to build on what we have so that we’re the best by the end of the season,” Mann explained.

Excellent blocking, combined with a passing threat opened up the Spartan run game too. The team finished with 249 yards rushing on 34 attempts for an average rush of 7.3 yards. Senior Alex Larson finished with 65 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown before leaving the game with an apparent injury.

Junior Cole Bialek then took over as the lead back for the rest of the game and finished with 123 yards on 11 carries and a pair of touchdowns. His highlight of the night was a 32-yard scamper down the near sideline for a touchdown in the second quarter.

“Absolutely amazing. Stiff arming that kid. Having everybody come to celebrate, it was awesome,” said Bialek about his touchdown run after the game.

Leading the defense was Senior linebacker Aiden McGrath who finished with 10 tackles and a forced fumble. Bialek, playing both ways against the Vikings, finished with seven tackles including Berthoud’s only sack.

It was an exceptional defensive performance as Berthoud held Valley to 131 total offensive yards and never allowed them anywhere near their endzone. “Kids just executed the game plan. I’m kind of blessed with where I’m at. This is probably the best linebacking core I’ve ever been a part of. Even from 5A all the way down. Guys just execute and play the game well,” said Isaac Vandeweert, Berthoud’s defensive coordinator.

The Spartans displayed fantastic pass defense as well, finishing with nine pass deflections as a team. Michaelis led the secondary with three of his own. Vandeweert credited Isaiah Meyers, the defensive backs coach who joined the program this season as a big reason for stifling the Viking’s passing attack.

This Friday will be a big test for Berthoud as they host the Eagles of Thompson Valley High School. “Hopefully the same outcome as the last two weeks. Just doing our job, scoring a lot. Keeping them from scoring,” Davidson said about the upcoming rivalry game.
Two areas the Spartans will want to work on this week are special teams and ball security. “We had a bunch of special team blunders tonight, that cost us a little bit,” Ticnor commented. The team also had two fumbles that resulted in turnovers.

“It’s going to be a tough game. We are definitely going to have to fight for it. But as long as we stay focused this week and put the work in, I think we can get it done,” Bialek said about the game against Thompson Valley.

Berthoud will host the Eagles at Max Marr Stadium at 7 p.m. on Sept. 8. First-year head coach Jamie Steele led Thompson Valley to a 35-16 win in their first game of the season against Summit High School on Aug. 31. “We always play them close, it’s always a fun game,” said Francis in anticipation of the matchup.