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Time of Poss.
MARYVILLE, Tenn. -- Dale Jackson threw for two touchdowns and a career-high 276 yards, but Berry College lost at Maryville, 41-14, on Saturday afternoon. The game was the season-opener for both clubs.
Jackson was 18-33 for 276 yards, but also tossed two interceptions. His first touchdown strike was to a 32-yarder to Chris Lilly. That TD cut the Scots' lead to 14-7 with 4:26 left in the first quarter. Lilly had five receptions for 98 yards in the contest.
Maryville added two more touchdowns and led 24-7 at halftime.
The Vikings scored first to open the second half. Jackson connected with Josh Bullock (4 catches, 75 yards) on a 25-yard scoring play, which cut the lead to 24-14 with 12:01 remaining in the third quarter.
The visitors then stopped the Scots inside the seven-yard line and had momentum, trailing by just 10 points. Maryville was 4-5 on fourth down tries, but Vikings Jacob Crowe and Nick Waters stopped quarterback Evan Pittenger one yard shy of a first down.
The Vikings then picked up two first downs before a BC miscue turned the tide back to Maryville. Jayvon McCullough intercepted a Jackson screen pass and he returned the ball to the BC six yard line.
Pittenger scored four plays later on a two-yard scamper and MC never looked back. He scored twice for Maryville, but running back Deshjion Whitlock led all runners with 142 yards on 16 carries. Jackson led BC rushers with nine carries for 31 yards.
The Scots outgained the Vikings, 481 to 345 yards. Matt Farinella made 11.5 tackles to lead the BC defense.
"Maryville is a very good football program and they have won back-to- back conference championships," said Berry Head Coach Tony Kunczewski. "It was a good test for us today and I was proud of the way our guys competed. We have to hold onto the ball better on offense and limit the big plays on defense. We had some opportunities today to change the outcome, but didn't finish. This is the first step in a long season. We will get better moving forward."
Berry plays at LaGrange next Saturday at 6 p.m.