Berrien football struggled to a 2-8 record last season, but the Rebels were much more competitive than it appears on the surface. Head coach Bill Cribb’s team fell by a single point, 28-27, to Brooks County, lost to Fitzgerald by just one touchdown, and then concluded the season with a 40-39 loss on the road versus Pelham.
The Rebels offense performed well at times, but the team’s defense was often its downfall. This offseason, Cribb and company have implemented a new defensive system in hopes of soon clawing towards the .500 mark.
“We have to have leadership,” Cribb said of his team heading into the new season. “Someone needs to take over, and I don’t care if it’s a senior, junior, sophomore or freshman. But I’ve already seen two or three guys step up, which is good.”
One player Cribb mentioned was lineman TJ Bryant, who isn’t necessarily a vocal leader for the Rebels, but a player who leads by example instead. On a team that needs to improve defensively, it could prove beneficial for the Rebels that Bryant, who plays in the trenches for the duration of most Friday nights, has emerged as a player to look up to.
“I expect to win,” said Cribb, who played and coached at Lowndes High School during the team’s dominant run of state championships. “That’s what I’m trying to get across to these kids. We don’t just show up to look good on Friday nights. I’m trying to instill in these kids that we want to win.”
Cribb conveyed that Berrien’s biggest goal during the upcoming season is to knock off 2015 state runner-up Irwin County in the team’s opening game, but also reiterated that his team needs to make the playoffs and experience that atmosphere in order to get the momentum going in Nashville.
If the team can finish at or above the .500 mark in 2016, it is easy to see Cribb and company getting things rolling within the Berrien football program.
Berrien Rebels
Rebels Expect To Raise Competitiveness In 2016
Written by Jacob Dennis
Photo by Wenda G. Bailey Photography
