Observer-Reporter Athlete of the Week
Name: Chacar Berry
School: Ringgold
Sport: Football
Class: Junior
Berry’s week: Berry accomplished one of the rarest feats in high school football during Ringgold’s 35-0 victory over Elizabeth Forward last Friday night. The 5-6, 177-pound outside linebacker and running back scored four touchdowns in four different ways. He returned a fumble and an interception for touchdowns on defense and ran one in and caught a pass for scores on offense.
The accomplishment is believed to be the first by a local athlete since another Ringgold player, Robert Heller, accomplished the four-for-four feat 11 years go.
“I never scored four in four different ways before,” said Berry. “But I did score four touchdowns against Elizabeth Forward last year, too.”
How it happened: Berry opened the scoring in the Elizabeth Forward game with a 27-yard fumble return in the first quarter.
“I saw it was a toss play, and I tried to cut it off,” Berry said. “He got hit and I saw the ball rolling on the ground, so I just scooped it up.”
Berry made it 14-0 when he went over from two yards out, also in the first quarter.
“It was just a dive,” he said. “The play before was a 20-yard run that got it down there.”
Extending the score to 21-0 in the second quarter, Berry caught a 21-yard TD pass from quarterback Nico Law.
The final score came later in the quarter, when Berry returned an interception 25 yards to make it 28-0.
“He was everywhere,” said Ringgold head coach Nick Milchovich. “You know how they say in hockey that the puck finds you? Well, the football seemed to find him in that game.”
The four touchdowns give Berry 19 for the season, 11th best in the WPIAL.
“He’s a very strong and physical kid,” said Milchovich. “He’s hard to tackle because he gets so low to the ground. You have to get low to stop him.”
Heller’s day: In a 59-34 victory over Albert Gallatin in 2003, Heller scored four times in this fashion: He returned an interception 37 yards for a TD, returned a punt 60 yards for a score, returned a kickoff for a score and broke off a 50-yard run.
Heller’s touchdowns allowed Ringgold to clinch a WPIAL Class AAAA playoff berth.
Big dreams: Berry, who is 16 rushing yards shy of 1,000 for the season, would like to play Division I football, and understands he needs to grow more in order to make that happen. There are few players his size in those ranks.
“I’m working on getting to 185 pounds for next year,” said Berry, who runs track and played Little League baseball as a youth. “I hope I hit a growth spurt before I get to college.”
Milchovich believes that’s possible.
“He’s a good running back, the sidecar in our spread offense,” he said. “We’ve used him in the slot. He has good hands. He caught more passes last year but he’s more a runner for us. He’s a gunner on our punt team and returns kicks. I don’t think there is anything he can’t do.”
Compiled by Joe Tuscano