On Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, Berkeley High School’s varsity football team took the field for their first home game of the season against Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory School. The bleachers buzzed with energy as students wore all red in support of their fellow Jackets.
Sacred Heart’s offense struck quickly, scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter in a high energy conflict. But, toward the end of the quarter, Berkeley started gaining momentum. With a series of narrow passes, the team made their way down the field. On the fourth down, being too far for a touchdown attempt, the team opted for sophomore kicker Kai Ferlatte to attempt a field goal. His shot went cleanly through the goal posts, causing cheers and shouts to erupt from the stand. The first quarter ended with Berkeley being down 3-14.
“My proudest moment of the night was when I scored that field goal,” Ferlatte said, reflecting on his first points of the season.
In the second quarter, Berkeley continued to fight hard, but Sacred Heart’s strong offense made it hard to keep up. Despite the team’s defensive efforts, Sacred Heart continued to score touchdown after touchdown. By halftime, Berkeley was in a 3-34 deficit. During halftime, Head Coach David Perry said, “No adjustments were made, we try to make adjustments before halftime.” He also praised the other team, “They’re a very good team. I wanted to schedule them to make sure that we could be ready for the playoffs when we play another high level team.”
Being down so much going into the second half decreased morale, but the squad persisted in their efforts on the field. Although the odds weren’t looking to be in Berkeley’s favor, the spirit of the BHS community was strong. Oliver Duffy, sophomore and junior varsity football player, described the pride he felt supporting the team. “Those are my teammates. Those are guys I aspire to play with. As a JV guy, I look up to these guys,” Duffy said, “My favorite part about games is the people, I look at other schools and they definitely don’t have the same amount of people. We have so many kids, so many people out here, raising money for the team and having an exciting time.”
The game continued much like the first half with Sacred Heart’s offense and defense blocking out Berkeley’s efforts. As the fourth quarter came to an end, Berkeley suffered a loss of 3-55.
From this hard matchup, Coach Perry hopes his players learn for the future, “We need to be more efficient on offense to make sure we produce first downs and get the other team off the field.”
Even after the difficult loss, Aziel Toeaina, senior running back, highlighted the team’s resilience throughout the game. “I don’t think we backed down personally. The score doesn’t say that but I think we did amazing,” Toeaina said. Ferlatte also commented on his Jacket pride. “I feel pretty proud to be at (BHS), but we need to step it up if we want to reach our potential,” Ferlatte said.