Keith MacPherson, Sports Editor
Gainesville Daily Register
SANGER — It didn’t take long for Adam Berryman to surpass his season-high touchdown total.
A week after finding the end zone three times, Berryman doubled it by scoring six touchdowns in a 53-7 rout of District 9-3A rival Sanger at Indian Stadium on Friday.
“You can see Adam gain more and more confidence as the season has gone along,” Gainesville coach Keith Hall said. “Our offensive line did an excellent job. He’d hit the hole tonight and we had linemen up with him at the second level. At that point he just has to run – and boy can he run.”
Berryman scored on runs of 21, 9, 4, 36, 5 and 62 in rushing for 287 on 22 carries. He scored four first half touchdowns and another two in the second half.
“This is the best blocking I’ve ever had,” said Berryman, who had 173 yards against Decatur a week ago. “Our offensive line should get all the credit. It was a full team effort.”
Gainesville (8-0, 2-0 in District 9-3A) came into the game looking to get out to a quick start against the hated Indians. And a quick start would be a bit of an understatement considering what the Leopards did Friday.
Gainesville recovered two fumbles, piled up 202 yards and 26 points in the first quarter alone.
“The good thing about our kids is that they didn’t overlook (Sanger),” Hall said. “They came out and played. At this point in the season you want to always come out and respect everybody you play. You want to come out and play hard against everybody and we sure did that tonight.”
Berryman scored the first two touchdowns and the last two touchdowns of a first half that had the Leopard faithful cheering from whistle to whistle.
Berryman’s first score came on from 21 yards out with 6:38 left in the first quarter and was part of a 10 play, 95-yard drive that saw the Leopards convert three separate third downs. He would add a 9-yard touchdown on Gainesville’s next possession a little over three minutes later.
“Adam sees the blocks now,” Hall said. “We have such a potent backfield that we can do a lot of different things.
Leopard quarterback Denzel Johnson got into the scoring action with a 22-yard touchdown run with 1:32 left in the first quarter. He would throw a 33-yard touchdown pass to David Moore with 42 second remaining following a De’Quan Wilford fumble recovery.
Johnson finished with 130 yards on nine carries while throwing for 85 on 4 of 6 passing. Moore was his favorite target, catching three passes for 66 yards.
Berryman would score touchdowns on each of the Leopards’ next three possessions on runs of 4, 36 and 5. The 36-yard touchdown was set up by a Johnson interception in which he stepped in slant route with 20 seconds left in the first half.
The Leopards forced and recovered three Sanger fumbles on the night. The Indians (0-7, 0-1) didn’t get a non-penalty induced first down until less than two minutes left in the first half.
“The defense has done it all year long,” Hall said. “We just have to continue to get better and better.”
Sanger’s lone score came on a fumble recovery when the ball slipped out of Moore’s hands on a first down catch, allowing Indian junior Kion Evans to scoop it up and take it 55 yards for the touchdown.
Quarterback Brandon Mann led the Indians with eight carries for 46 yards. Dylan Henan had 11 carries for 37 yards.
Gainesville will have a bye next week before hosting Krum on Nov. 2. Krum dismantled Decatur
Gainesville 53, Sanger 7
Gainesville 26 13 14 0 - 53
Sanger 0 0 7 0 - 7
Scoring
First quarter
GHS – Adam Berryman 21 run (kick failed), 6:38
GHS – Berryman 9 run (pass failed), 3:14
GHS – Denzel Johnson 22 run (Hector Segrero kick), 1:32
GHS – David Moore 33 pass from Johnson (Segrero kick), :42
Second quarter
GHS – Berryman 4 run (Segrero kick), 2:40
GHS – Berryman 36 run (Segrero kick), :11
Third quarter
GHS – Berryman 5 run (Segrero kick), 9:00
SHS – Kion Evans 55 fumble return (Brandon Gehrke kick), 6:37
GHS – Berryman 62 run (Segrero kick), 6:24
Team stats
GHS SHS
First downs 23
Total yards 552
Rushing 47-467 29-90
Passing 85 4
C-A-I 4-6-0 2-5-1
Pen-yards 6-38 3-35
Punt-avg. 1-36 5-42.2
Individual
Rushing – Gainesville, Adam Berryman 22-287; Denzel Johnson 9-130; Jacob Royal 5-31; Rocky Salazar 4-9; Mims 2-8; Johnathan Mendez 5-2. Sanger, Brandon Mann 8-46; Dylan Hennan 11-37; Lance Hunter 4-15; David Teeters 1-3; Wyatt Broxson 5-(minus-11).
Passing – Gainesville, Johnson 4-6-0-85. Sanger, Mann 2-3-1-4; Broxson 0-2-0-0.
Receiving – Gainesville, David Moore 3-66; Royal 1-19. Sanger, Tanner Thomas 2-4.
