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Berkeley Wins State Championship

Berkeley beat Northwestern, 33-24, to claim the Class AAAA Division II state championship on Friday night at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia.

COLUMBIA -- Bruce Ellington's performance in Friday night's Division II-AAAA state championship game was staggering.

The splendid senior quarterback scored on touchdown runs of 28 and 40 yards in the fourth quarter to rally the Stags past Northwestern, 33-24, in front of approximately 8,000 fans at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Ellington didn't complete a pass in six attempts, but it didn't matter as he ran wild in leading the Stags to their fifth state title and first since 1996, carrying 23 times for 191 yards and four touchdowns on a night Moncks Corner will remember forever.

Ellington scored on a 28-yard run with 9:55 left in the game to cut the deficit to 24-20. He scored on a 40-yard run 83 seconds later to give his team a 27-24 lead. R.J. Robinson delivered the dagger -- a 28-yard touchdown run -- with 2:07 left in the game.

"I give all the credit to coach (Jerry) Brown and the offensive line," Ellington said. "The line made some big blocks to get me in the end zone. In the fourth quarter, coach Brown started yelling at us on the sideline. The defense started making big plays and now it was our turn. We huddled together and talked about what needed to be done."

Berkeley (14-1) became the first team from the Lowcountry to win a High School League state championship since Stratford turned the trick in 1999. Northwestern -- perhaps the hottest team in the state, with an eight-game winning streak -- finished with a 9-6 record.

Northwestern coach Jimmy Wallace had praise for Ellington.

"It was a great football game," he said. "It was 33-24, and No. 3 is probably as good of any player I've seen this year. He's pretty good, isn't he? I don't know how many yards and how many touchdowns he had, but No. 3, if you go back and look at the film, was the difference."

Ellington was pitted against Northwestern quarterback Justin Worley. The 6-5 junior completed 31 of 50 passes for 253 yards and a pair of TDs.

The Stags won the war and the statistical battle, outgaining the Trojans 442-331 in total yardage. Robinson carried eight times for 127 yards and Dante Robinson chipped in with 79 yards on 11 carries.

After a scoreless first quarter, both offenses started to get on track as the Stags and Trojans played to a 14-14 tie at halftime.

Berkeley's first score came on the first play of the second quarter when Ellington capped a seven-play, 43-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

The Trojans tied the score with 6:59 left in the half when Worley found Robert Joseph in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown pass to cap an eight-play, 69-yard drive.

Ellington exploded for his second touchdown of the night, a 67-yard run with 5:38 left in the first half to put the Stags back on top, 14-7.

But the Trojans responded with a score with only 18 seconds left in the half. Worley hooked up with Joseph for a 3-yard score to knot it at 14.

Berkeley outgained Northwestern 206-175 in the first half. Ellington, who entered the game with 2,000 yards rushing, carried 12 times in the first half for 93 yards.

Worley who entered the game with 7,752 yards and 90 touchdowns passing the past two seasons, completed 17 of 25 in the first half for 121 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Trojans got a break in the third quarter when R.J. Robinson ripped off a 73-yard touchdown run that was called back on an illegal block.

The Stags had to punt and the Trojans marched the ball 71 yards in 13 plays for a score to take a 21-14 lead with 5:30 left in the third quarter. Demario Henderson capped the drive with a 5-yard run for a touchdown.

Berkeley fumbled on its first play after the touchdown as Ellington's errant pitch was recovered by Brandon Williams at the Stags 7. Four plays netted 1 yard and the Trojans had to settle for Ryan Foster's 23-yard field goal to push the lead to 24-14.

And then it was time for Bruce Almighty to shine. His four touchdowns pushed his total to 33 on the season.

"What can you can say about Bruce? He's one of the top 5, top 10 most dominating players in the state," Brown. "I've never seen a guy dominate a football game like Bruce Ellington."

B--Bruce Ellington 2 run (Patrick Jackson kick)

N--Robert Joseph 10 pass from Justin Worley (Ryan Foster kick)

B--Ellington 67 run (Jackson kick)

N--Joseph 3 pass from Worley (Foster kick)

N--Demario Wilson 5 run (Foster kick)

N--Foster 23 FG

B--Ellington 28 run (kick failed)

B--Ellington 40 run (Jackson kick)

B--R.J. Robinson 28 run (kick failed)