TAMPA, Fla. — The Berkeley Prep football team is in the Class 2M state finals for the second time in three years.
The Buccaneers are building off that experience in 2021 when they fell just short of a state title crown.
“We just learned that the torch has not passed us. We just have to play at a higher level,” defensive end Titus Bullard said. “Teams are going to be harder and harder every single week.”
Berkeley Prep is having one of the strongest seasons in program history. The Bucs are 12-2 and riding a nine-game winning streak into the state championship game against Miami’s Norland High School (14-0).
“It’s been a tough run,” lineman Colin O’Carroll said. “We’ve had a lot of good teams but stalled out late in the season. My brother played here, so he knows the struggle. I was here two years ago when we went to the state championship. That year left a bitter taste in our mouth. Seniors are really excited to put it on for the program.”
Those 12 seniors are the backbone of the program.
“They have been a great team of unselfish young men,” head coach Dominick Ciao said. “Our seniors have been great leaders, truly unselfish people. The old saying, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish when no one receives the credit.’”
“For our leadership, it started last year when our season ended,” linebacker Gavin Holman said. “Coach inspired us, everyday he talked about senior leadership. It instilled in us that we were looking to put that in the team.”
The Bucs are led by 70-year-old coach Ciao, and like Berkeley, he is pursuing his first state title in his 34th season as a head coach in the Tampa Bay area.
“I’ve known him since I was 3 years old,” O’Carroll said. “My mom introduced me to him. He’s a big role model in my life, one of the wisest men in my life. He’s there for me all the time. He means so much to this community.”
And so would a win on Saturday.
“This will be history,” Holman added. “We’ll be looking to put our names in the yearbook.”
Berkeley Prep will take on Norland on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Tallahassee.
