By Michael Hicks

Berthoud Recorder

FREDERICK – When Jeffory Shields made the move to defensive back at midseason, even he probably couldn’t have imagined the kind of night he had Friday at Alex Tesone Field.

The Berthoud senior caught more passes than the Warriors’ own offensive players from quarterback Ian Dennis. One of his three interceptions of Dennis was returned 34 yards for a first-quarter touchdown as the Spartans closed out the 2008 regular season with a 41-7 whitewashing of Frederick.

The return of Berthoud’s A-game, on both offense and defense, couldn’t have come at a better time as the Spartans prepare for Saturday’s 3A state playoff opener at Centaurus.

“The guys are getting back. They’re back in sync, thinking about the things we need to do, how we need to go about doing it and executing like we need to,” Berthoud head coach Dan McGinn said. “And it’s the perfect time for it.”

Considering the Spartans had already secured a playoff berth the week before against Silver Creek and Frederick came into the game having lost six straight and scoring just 10 points in those games, Berthoud could’ve easily come into the game lacking motivation. But that wasn’t the case.

“We treated this week like every other week,” Spartans quarterback Jordan Major said. “We knew Frederick had nothing to lose and would come out and give us their A-game. We had to execute at a high level so we can go to the playoffs on a high note.”

Berthoud (8-2, 7-2 Tri-Valley), after being stopped on its opening drive, returned to its old ways one play into its second possession as Major hit Ty Duncan for a 36-yard touchdown strike and a 7-0 lead. The first of five first-half touchdowns for the Spartans was set up by a 25-yard Duncan punt return.

Three plays later, Shields made it 14-0 when he returned one of Dennis’ four interceptions 34 yards.

“I worked really hard on my footwork,” Shields said. “I had fun tonight.”

Then it was Major’s turn to get into the act as he scrambled 62 yards on the Spartans’ next possession for the first of his three rushing touchdowns. He also ran for scores of 3 and 2 yards between the second and third quarters to give Berthoud a 41-0 advantage.

Sandwiched between Major’s touchdowns was a 7-yard scoring run for Bryce Munoz.

After Major’s final touchdown with 8 minutes, 22 seconds left in the third quarter, officials kept the game clock running for the remainder of the game. For Frederick, it probably didn’t run fast enough.

Major finished with a game-high 136 yards rushing. Berthoud collected 382 yards of total offense against the Warriors — 264 of those yards coming on the ground.

“Whenever you execute and do the things you do it’s always good prep,” McGinn said of his team‘s final tune-up before the postseason gets under way. “This was a very good game for us and hopefully we’ll take some of this momentum into the playoffs.”

The Warriors (2-8, 1-8) had scored just 3 points all month and hadn’t scored a touchdown since Sept. 26 before Sam Chavez punched in a 3-yard score with 3:11 remaining.

It was the lone bright spot for what turned out to be a sour season for Frederick, which had just 66 yards in the first half — all on the ground.

Dennis’ last three passes of the first half were intercepted, one by Kent Flynn. He didn’t complete a pass until 1:15 remained in the third quarter. Dennis finished 2-of-16 for 14 yards and the four interceptions.

“For the past 10 weeks now, we’ve got everybody’s best and we expected that,” McGinn said. “We expected them to play very well tonight. Fortunately, we were able to do some things we do and come out with a win.”

BERTHOUD 41, FREDERICK 7

BERTHOUD (8-2, 7-2) 21 13 7 0-41

FREDERICK (2-8, 1-8) 0 0 0 7-7

SCORING SUMMARY

B-Ty Duncan 36 pass from Jordan Major (Danny McGinn kick)

B-Jeff Shields 34 interception return (McGinn kick)

B-Major 62 run (McGinn kick)

B-Bryce Munoz 7 run (McGinn kick)

B-Major 3 run (Kick failed)

B-Major 2 run (McGinn kick)

F-Sam Chavez 3 run (Tanner Ellingsen kick)

STATISTICS

RUSHING: Berthoud — Bryce Munoz 10-55, Jordan Major 13-136, Greg Glasser 5-64, Ty Duncan 1-12, Steven Fiske 1-3, Zachary Ruebesam 2-(-6). TOTAL: 32-264. Frederick — Sam Chavez 20-76, Jahde Lesner 5-21, Dalton Hall 2-14, Anthony Hernandez 4-14, Ian Dennis 2-23. TOTAL: 33-148.

PASSING: Berthoud: Major 6-11-1, 118; Frederick: Dennis 2-16-4 14.

RECEIVING: Berthoud: Munoz 2-22, Duncan 3-83, Jeff Shields 1-13; Frederick: Tanner Ellingsen 1-8, Nick Romito 1-6.

TOTAL YARDS: Berthoud 382; Frederick 162

FIRST DOWNS: Berthoud 11; Frederick 6

TURNOVERS: Berthoud 1; Frederick 4

PENALTIES: Berthoud 6-54; Frederick 6-30

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

Berthoud 41, Frederick 7

Windsor 14, Silver Creek 7

Fort Morgan 39, Fort Lupton 27

Mountain View 48, Roosevelt 6

Sterling 54, Northridge 6

END OF REGULAR SEASON