BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Bradford High School opened the postseason by easily defeating the 39th team in the Florida High School Athletic Association/MaxPreps Class 2A power rankings (see related story) and will now play the 13th-ranked team in a Region 2-2A semifinal game on Friday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m.
The Tornadoes (10-1), who are ranked fourth in 2A and seeded first in Region 2, will host fifth seed Tampa Berkeley Prep, which bring a 5-4 record into the game after defeating fourth seed The Villages 35-28 in the Nov. 14 quarterfinals.
Bradford is attempting to win a second-round game for the third time in four years. If the Tornadoes defeat the Buccaneers, they will host the winner between second seed Clearwater Calvary Christian (8-3) and third seed Cocoa (6-4) for the Region 2 championship on Friday, Nov. 28. Calvary Christian is the eighth-ranked team in 2A, while Cocoa is ranked 11th.
Berkeley is in the postseason for the eighth straight year and has qualified for the playoffs a total of 18 years. The Bucs have won at least one playoff game in 15 of their 18 postseason appearances. Berkeley has a playoff record of 26-16.
The Bucs have won one state championship, defeating Miami Norland 28-20 in the 2023 Class 2 Metro final. Berkeley also finished as a state runner-up, losing 21-0 to Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna in the 2021 Class 3A final.
Berkeley was one win away from playing for state championships in 1980, 1984, 1985, 2011, 2016 and 2020.
This year’s Berkeley team lost its first four games — all against teams that finished in the top 10 in the final power rankings of their classifications. The Bucs opened with a 21-20 loss to Clearwater Central Catholic (sixth in 1A), followed by a 29-23 loss to Sarasota Booker (third in 3A). Berkeley then lost 49-10 to Sarasota Cardinal Mooney (first in 2A) and 42-15 to Calvary Christian.
Since the Calvary Christian loss, the Bucs have won five in a row: 28-15 over 6A Valrico Bloomingdale (which finished the season 3-7), 19-7 over 2A Tampa Catholic (which finished 1-9), 19-7 over 6A Tampa Plant (which finished 5-6 after a first-round playoff loss), 31-21 over 7A Tampa Alonso (which finished 6-4) and the first-round playoff win over The Villages (which finished 9-2).
Berkeley is scoring an average of 22 points per game, while opponents are averaging 24 points per game.
The Bucs’ offense averages 163 rushing yards per game, led by junior Luby Jones, who averages 5 yards per carry and 94 yards per game. For the season, Jones, who has 847 yards and 10 touchdowns on 168 carries, is coming off a three-touchdown effort in the win over The Villages, in which he gained 148 yards on 25 carries. One of his scoring runs covered 51 yards.
Matt White, a junior who averages 4 yards per carry and 44 yards per game, has 400 yards and two touchdowns on 98 carries. He rushed for 55 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries against The Villages.
Berkeley averages 138 passing yards per game, led by junior quarterback Cooper Hayes, who has completed 77 of 127 attempts for 1,228 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has six interceptions.
Hayes went 10 of 13 for 201 yards and a touchdown in last week’s playoff win.
The receiving corps is led by junior Dylan Henderson, who has 23 catches for 427 yards (19 yards per reception) and five touchdowns. He had four receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown against The Villages.
Senior Tony Bland has 18 catches for 386 yards (21 yards per reception) and three touchdowns, while senior Dylan McDonough has eight catches for 148 yards (19 yards per reception) and two touchdowns.
The Berkeley offense has committed 10 turnovers on the season.
Defensively, the Bucs allowed 177 rushing yards per game and 116 passing yards per game during the regular season.
Junior linebacker Max Taken leads Berkeley in tackles with 44, followed by senior lineman Mateo Brink with 34, senior linebacker Ben Linsky with 25, junior linebacker/defensive back Matty Zahn with 24, linebacker White with 23 and junior lineman/linebacker Jared Zames with 22.
Michael Mariani, a junior lineman, leads the team in tackles for loss with seven. Brink and Zames have five each.
Three players have 3.5 sacks each: Brink, Mariani and Zames.
The defense has created 10 turnovers (six interceptions, four fumble recoveries), four of which have been interceptions by Zahn.
