Berryhill Team Preview
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It’s the month of July and that means it’s preview time! Throughout the month of July, we are publishing 100 team previews to get you ready for the 2022 season. This is something that began last year and has become even bigger and better this year. We’re looking forward to diving deep into the top teams across the state. From defending champs, to top contenders and dark horses, we’ll have complete coverage every single day with new teams from Class 6A down to A. In this post, we take a look at the Berryhill Chiefs. Once again, the Chiefs are ranked in the preseason top ten as they’ve been one of the more consistent programs in Class 3A.
Berryhill Chiefs (3A Preseason Ranking: #8)
It should come as no surprise to anyone who follows Oklahoma high school football that the Berryhill Chiefs are once again one of the top teams in Class 3A. That’s the spot they’ve been in for over a decade now. They come in at #8 in our preseason rankings for Class 3A with the majority of their starters returning from last year’s quarterfinal team. However, despite returning the majority of their starters, they’ll still have plenty of new faces, especially in the skill positions on the offensive side of the ball. Berryhill went 9-3 and had a complete bounce back season after a rare losing season in 2020. The Chiefs would go 9-3 and make it to the quarterfinal round before losing to Heritage Hall. The Chiefs got some very strong wins last season and should be one of the better teams in Class 3A once again this year if some of those new starters come along and make an immediate impact.
The biggest hurdle that Berryhill will have to overcome is their schedule. It’s absolutely brutal when you combine the non-district and district slates. The Chiefs have a back to back stretch in September where they’ll face the #1 team in Class 4A and then open up district play against the #1 team in Class 3A. The Chiefs always play a tough schedule so this will be nothing new, but it is a hurdle nonetheless. On offense, the Chiefs bring back six starters but will have new pieces moving into the backfield at quarterback and running back. While those new starters get adjusted and ready for 3A football, the Chiefs will lean on their defense, which brings back six starters as well. And they’ll be leaning specifically on the front seven of the defense, which has a chance to be pretty special for Berryhill this fall. It’s going to be tough for teams to run the football on this Berryhill team with the talent they have returning on the defensive line and at the linebacker position.
2022 Results (9-3 Record – Lost In Class 3A Quarterfinals)
Sept. 3 – Beat Fort Gibson 27-23
Sept. 10 – Beat Cascia Hall 35-7
Sept. 17 – Lost To Cushing 55-14
Sept. 24 – Beat Inola 48-7
Oct. 1 – Beat Verdigris 28-10
Oct. 8 – Beat Jay 38-0
Oct. 14 – Lost To Holland Hall 37-12
Oct. 22 – Beat Central 33-18
Oct. 29 – Beat Vinita 31-24
Nov. 5 – Beat Mannford 42-14
1st Round – Beat Stigler 28-6
Quarterfinal – Lost To Heritage Hall 56-25
Key Losses To Graduation
Chase Burke – Running Back
Davis Dotson – Offensive Lineman
Dimitri Apostilides – Athlete
Jaxon Watie – Quarterback
Player To Watch
Ethan Stites
Ethan
Stites
6'2" | 225 lbs | LB
Berryhill | 2023
State
OK
– 2023 Linebacker
One of the top breakout players that we got a chance to see this spring was Berryhill’s 2023 running back and linebacker
Ethan Stites
Ethan
Stites
6'2" | 225 lbs | LB
Berryhill | 2023
State
OK
. As a running back, you can tell that Stites is a linebacker just playing the position because he is a very physical runner that is incredibly hard to bring down. He’s going to be a touchdown machine when Berryhill gets near the goal line this fall. But when it comes to where he projects, Stites is a linebacker and one of the hardest hitting linebackers in the state. He had an excellent spring and offseason and should be considered one of the top linebackers not only in 3A but in the 2023 class.
More Names To Know
Demarie Davis – 2023 Defensive Lineman
Trenton Deramus – 2023 Linebacker
2022 Schedule/Games To Circle
Sept. 2 – Fort Gibson
Sept. 9 – Cascia Hall
– Berryhill will face off with Cascia Hall at home in week two. This has become a solid non-district match-up year after year between two teams and programs that pride themselves on defense. We could get another defensive battle when these two square off as Cascia Hall will look to run the ball and that goes exactly into what Berryhill does well on defense. This match-up will have a little extra emphasis this fall as Cascia Hall moves up to Class 3A. While they are not a district foe for Berryhill, they are a top ten team and this could very well be the first of two meetings between the Chiefs and Commandos this season.
Sept. 16 – AT Cushing
Sept. 23 – Lincoln Christian
– A week after playing the #1 team in Class 4A on the road, Berryhill will return home in week four to host the #1 team in Class 3A and their new district foe Lincoln Christian. After the redistricting shuffle, Berryhill left Holland Hall and Verdigris and are now in a district that has been dominated by Lincoln Christian. The Bulldogs are the #1 team in our preseason rankings for a reason as they bring back nearly everyone from last year’s 3A runner up finish. Berryhill and some of those new starters will be tested in this one. However, if the Chiefs can manage to pull the upset and beat Lincoln at home, they would be the new top team in this district.
Sept. 30 – AT Muldrow
Oct. 7 – Locust Grove
Oct. 21 – Checotah
Oct. 28 – AT Stigler
Nov. 4 – AT Seminole
– Fast forward to week ten and it’s the final week of the regular season and another top ten clash as Berryhill hits the road to take on Seminole in the regular season finale. Depending on what has happened earlier in the season, Berryhill could be locking up the district championship with a win on the road in week ten. One thing is for sure with these two perennial powers, playoff seeding will be on the line and both teams will be scratching and clawing for playoff seed positioning in this one. This game could provide the difference between being at home or having to hit the road in the playoffs. This should be a good match-up to close out the regular season.
Notable
Berryhill is one of the programs in the state you expect to see contending every year. They made their 13th consecutive playoff appearance last fall but that’s a streak that was almost snapped during the Covid-plagued season of 2020. In 2020, Berryhill made it to the playoffs for the 12th consecutive season. Berryhill’s playoff streak should have been snapped in any normal year. Granted, in a normal year, the Chiefs wouldn’t have had to deal with all the starting and stopping and cancellations. Because of Covid, the OSSAA made the decision to allow every team that wanted to participate in the playoffs able to participate in the playoffs. The Chiefs, after finishing sixth in their district, would have been on the outside looking in. Last year, they made it in on their own but would fall to Heritage Hall in the quarterfinal round.
Championship History
1 State Championship
2004 – Beat Victory Christian 27-6