Bumps And Bruises At Berkley Football’s Scrimmage

BERKLEY – Don’t tell Berkley football players it was only a scrimmage.

The Bears' intensity was certainly on display for family and friends during an exhibition Saturday morning at Hurley Field.

Coaches split the team into two squads and after an hour of drills the white jerseys played the blue jerseys in a full-contact scrimmage that lasted about 20 minutes.

Senior Kyle Macey opened the game up with a 40-yard touchdown pass for the white team. The blue team answered back with a scoring drive of its own when Damon Eldridge threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to even things up.

The offenses both looked sharp and so did Berkley’s running backs. Omar Sitto showed off his aggressive running style while teammates Markeis Hampton and Jason Taylor showed their dangerous speed.

But it wasn’t all thrills for Berkley fans.  

Junior Alex Agbay, competing for the starting quarterback job, went down awkwardly on his right leg. He was tackled and it looked like a helmet directly hit his knee. Agbay was helped off the field and left the practice to undergo further tests.

Less serious was a tweaked ankle that Hampton suffered. At the end of a nice run, a defender grabbed his leg and he twisted it. Hampton sat out the rest of practice for precautionary reasons.

“We don’t take guys a lot to the ground, we only do about 15 minutes a day max, but you have to hit because you have to learn how to fall and to get back up,” head coach Jeff Burnside said. “There’s nothing natural about the game football, you can’t hide from getting hit.”

The players have less than two weeks to get healthy for Berkley’s season opener against Ferndale on Aug. 26.