Shane Thomas | The Valdosta Daily TimesBerrien head football coach Tim Alligood talks to his team on the field after a game against Brantley County on Friday in Nashville.

NASHVILLE, Ga. — Despite committing six turnovers and struggling to stop the run at times, the Berrien Rebels found a way to win as they got past Brantley County 19-6 on Friday night.

Trailing 6-0 to start the third quarter, Rebels coach Tim Alligood told his staff to find ways to get their biggest target, 6-foot-4 Swiss Army knife receiver Ja’Marquis Johnson, more involved. Johnson scored all three touchdowns for the Rebels (4-1) — catching two passes for 117 yards and rushing for 81 more.

When asked what Alligood saw to start getting him the ball, Johnson was candid.

“I was just a better athlete than them,” Johnson said. “That was the key right there.”

Alligood said as much himself.

“There’s no question,” Alligood said. “When you look out there, he’s a 6-4, 190-, 205-pound kid and the guy covering him is 5-foot-4, you’ve gotta take a shot. We went after them and to his credit, he made plays.”

Rebels quarterback Tanner Adams hit Johnson for a 57-yard TD pass on the Rebels’ second play of the third quarter to tie the game at 6 with 10 minutes left in the quarter.

Johnson didn’t stop there. After turning Brantley County over on downs with 7 minutes left in the third quarter, Adams lofted a screen pass to his left to Johnson, who motored past the Herons’ secondary 60 yards for the go-ahead score to make it 13-6 with 6:50 left in the third quarter. 

A Blaine King interception midway through the fourth quarter, Johnson lined up as a running back and took an inside handoff on a misdirection, beat a helpless Brantley County defender to the edge and put on the afterburners for a 28-yard touchdown run that whipped the damp Rebels faithful into a frenzy with 6:55 left.

Johnson still wasn’t done. With 1:32 left in the fourth, with the Herons threatening on fourth-and-2 from the 5-yard line, Johnson got to Herons quarterback Blaine Brantley in the backfield to turn the Herons over on downs and effectively seal the victory.

“Defense,” Alligood said. “The front seven continues to play off the charts. We knew that was gonna be our strength coming in. They hadn’t disappointed, but I tell you, Ja’Marquis — you get the ball to him on the perimeter, good things are gonna happen. That’s what I challenged our offensive coaches to do, that’s what we did and he made plays.

“I said, ‘Guys, Brian Carter’s been our playmaker these last few weeks. We’ve gotta have somebody else step up and give us that spark and that’s what he did. Defensively, I thought he played an excellent game as well. This was probably his best game so far since I’ve been here for Ja’Marquis. He was the guy tonight, I’m very proud of him.”

The Rebels trailed 6-0 at halftime.

Turnovers cost the Rebels much of the first half as they had two possessions end in turnovers. Adams threw an interception in the first quarter and the Rebels put it on the ground to Brantley in the second quarter.

After forcing the Herons into a third-and-18, a personal foul against the Rebels gave the Herons a critical first down to open the second quarter. The Herons took advantage in just two plays as they recovered their own fumble on a power run up the gut to go ahead 6-0 with 10:47 left before halftime. Despite giving up the score, the Rebels managed to block the extra point attempt.

Adams completed 4-of-8 passes for 118 yards — 117 of which to Johnson for two scores along with two interceptions in the game. Titan Blevins led the Rebels with six tackles and a sack in the game while Johnson showed his versatility on defense with a tackle for loss, a pass deflection and a forced fumble. Javien Fleming led the Rebels with two sacks on the night.

Despite being pushed around at times by the Brantley offensive line and being kept on the field for long drives, Alligood commended his defensive unit for “finding a way” to stop the Herons from finding the end zone again.

“That’s a big offensive line,” Alligood said of the Herons’ running game. “They’ve got some big kids up there. They just put a hat on a hat, getting some double teams and the amount of plays we played tonight defensively and when those big boys are coming off at you over and over again and you’re playing that many snaps, eventually you’re gonna wear out. It was good that we just kept finding a way.”

For the Rebels, the four-game winning streak is the longest winning streak they’ve experienced since 1994 under then-coach Brent Miller. The 4-1 start is the best Berrien has started a season since 2009, when they started 4-1 under coach Ryan Branch.

“Any time you win, it builds confidence,” Alligood said of the four-game winning streak. “That’s what we’re trying to instill in this team and this program is that, ‘Guys, we’ve got to expect to win football games and trying to build that kind of tradition here and that kind of mindset.’ The only way you can do that is win games. It ain’t been pretty, but we’ve been finding ways and when you can win ugly like that, it says a lot about your football team, says a lot about our resilience and I’m proud of that.”

Johnson added: “We’re still working …There’s a surprise coming this year, man. We’re working every day, getting better.”