Greg Mintel - newsobserver.com
Leesville Road junior Austin Berrios runs the kickoff back for a touchdown to start the second half against Apex. The Pride defeated the Cougars 34-14 on Thursday, Sept. 2 at Leesville Road high school.
RALEIGH -- Austin Berrios had plenty of incentives for making the game-changing play in the second half of Leesville Road’s 34-14 over Apex.
The Pride struggled early as they were tied with the Cougars at halftime on Thursday night. Berrios didn’t have much to show at that point. Plus, Apex’s Quincy Mangum had returned a kickoff for a 95-yard touchdown.
Berrios wanted to prove he could also make a special teams play, which he did to start the third quarter. Berrios returned his kickoff 96 yards to give the Pride a 21-14 lead – their first of the game.
“That made me want to score a lot,” Berrios said of Mangum’s touchdown. “And the hole was huge, too. I don’t know what [Apex] was doing, but our blocking was great for me.”
When the Pride (2-1) entered the locker room at halftime, coach David Green told his team they were fortunate to not be trailing. The Pride had fumbled twice and penalties had stall drives. But once Berrios scored his touchdown, the Pride continued to score by running the football.
After the Pride stopped the Cougars (1-2) near midfield, they scored their next touchdown on the legs of quarterback Josh Stanley. Besides a physical running game, what made Leesville Road’s offense interesting was how Stanley baited Apex’s defense. Although Stanley dropped back to pass 18 times, he completed just two passes. On the other attempts, Stanley usually ran for big gains, which included his 21-yard touchdown that was highlighted by Stanley giving a Cougar linebacker a stiff-arm before he ran into the end zone.
“Part of our pass game includes trying to spread people out to open up running lanes for him,” Green said of Stanley. “Sometimes even if the receivers are open, if he sees the running lane, he going to take it and go. That’s one thing he did tonight that he hadn’t done the first two games.”
For Stanley, he felt the return by Berrios was contagious to the Pride’s ability to run the football.
“I think if one person makes the big play, that really can spark someone else,” Stanley said. “I know I see Austin make his play, and now I’m ready to go.”
Once Leesville Road had a comfortable lead, the Pride kept the Cougars out of the end zone with turnovers. Both Pride cornerback Cody Pyper and defensive end Ronald Harris each had an interception.
The Pride also ran for 354 yards, which pleased Green.
“I love this,” he said. “This is probably a good of job we’ve done running the football since I’ve been here.”
