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Football: Berkeley Prep 43, Mitchell 42 (2OT)

 
Published Oct. 13, 2018

TAMPA — The game between Berkeley Prep and Mitchell was tied five times throughout the night. After quarterback Joshua Youngblood hit tight end Jaylen Harrell with a touchdown pass in double overtime, the Bucs had a chance to make it six.

Instead, they gave the ball to running back Jakob Hines, and for the third time that night he barrelled his way into the end zone, delivering the 43-42 double-overtime victory on the two-point conversion run.

"It was a blur," Hines said about the winning carry. "There were a ton of people. I saw the goal line, and I had to get there no matter what. There was no stopping."

Berkeley Prep took the lead on its first possession of the night when wide receiver Xavier Townsend, set up by his own 36-yard run, caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Youngblood. He'd score again in the second quarter on a 10-yard touchdown run.

Both times Townsend scored, however, Mitchell (5-2) quarterback Kym-Mani King showed him that two could play at that game. Twice, King broke away, scoring touchdowns on 48- and 58-yard runs, sending the teams into the halftime break tied at 14.

Mitchell ran just over half the number of plays the Bucs (5-2) did before the break, but when the Mustangs had the ball, they made it count.

"Kym-Mani King is a great player, but while they were doing all that, I just had to get my offensive guys refocused," Youngblood said. "We couldn't worry about what the defense was doing. We just had to worry about going on the field and scoring every time."

Mitchell took its first lead four plays into the second half, when Tyler Williams ran 55 yards for another breakaway touchdown. Later, King had another long run, this one for 53 yards, to set up Williams' other second-half touchdown, scored on a 28-yard dash.

Both teams' quarterbacks excelled on the ground, each rushing for more than 200 yards. Meanwhile, Hines chipped away with short yardage gains, scoring on 1- and 2-yard runs.

Williams had both overtime scores for the Mustangs, and the Mitchell defense was stout when Berkeley Prep got the ball in double overtime, forcing the Bucs to go for it on 4th-and-4, down by a touchdown. On that play, Youngblood scrambled in the backfield, narrowly missing tackles, before finally unloading to a waiting Harrell.

"When I got in trouble, Jaylen just found a hole and he sat there," Youngblood said.

The Bucs had more than 300 yards of offense, and their defense finally found a way to stop King, who was making Berkeley Prep pay all night long. But winning the game on a pair of back-to-back gutsy plays, Hines said, proves that there wasn't just one hero of the night.

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"(Youngblood) put the team on his back tonight. I love that man to death. I love my O-line. I love my whole team," he said. "We showed toughness tonight."