— Berry football has made many leaps and bounds in its first three years of existence, but a season-opening win still eluded the program.

But the magic that showed up in Valhalla so often last season returned to Berry’s sideline Saturday night, and the Vikings finally learned what it meant to be 1-0.

Berry scored two touchdowns and recovered three turnovers in the fourth quarter to come back from a 12point deficit and defeat Maryville 34-33. Head coach Tony Kunczewski’s squad has now won six of its past eight games decided by 10 points or less.

“It is kind of hard to put into words,” Kunczewski said. “We kind of talked before kickoff about how our season motto would be all about concentrating on the next play, just what comes next, and this team showed that with their consistent resiliency tonight, and the credit goes to them.”

Berry won the game despite allowing 472 yards passing and being outgained by the Scots 543-380. The Vikings trailed by 12 three different times in the game and completed the fourth quarter comeback without its starting quarterback or running back.

Just after Berry cut the Scots’ lead to five with 7:26 left, Maryville fumbled the kickoff right back to the Vikings. Only a few plays later, freshman running back Jacob Collins ran for a 6-yard touchdown to put his team ahead.

Maryville quarterback Nick Myers would throw two interceptions in the final five minutes of the game.

The second one came with less than a minute to go as senior linebacker Preston Stewart read the coverage and set off a roar from the home crowd.

“I’m not going to lie, my eyes widened when I saw the ball,” Stewart said. “That’s my first interception for my career, and I’m a senior, so it’s a great feeling.”

The Vikings were already behind the eight ball at the start of the game with senior quarterback Dale Jackson out due to injury. They instead relied on sophomore quarterbacks Tate Adcock and Slade Dale, with Dale taking over late in the game.

Adcock would go 15-for-25 for 186 yards and three touchdowns, while Dale went 3-for10 for 49 yards, plus 75 yards on 13 carries. But the main issue seemed to come on the defensive side, especially in the first half.

The Vikings’ defense looked like day and night when handling the run game versus the pass. Myers would throw for two scores in the first quarter, and led one more scoring drive in the final minute of the second.

Berry went into halftime down 26-14 and in search for a way to change the tide.

“I don’t think there were too many changes at halftime,” Stewart said. “I think it was just a lot of guys realizing what we needed to do and where we wanted to take this program.”

Touchdowns for both teams kept the deficit at 12 points early in the fourth, but an Adcock interception put Maryville in the red zone with a chance to go up three scores. Instead, the defense stepped up, and Jordan Arnett picked off Myers in the end zone.

Then it was Dale’s turn to be the hero. The Ringgold native converted a fourth down, completed a 28-yard pass to Josh Bullock and hit Ciresi for a 16-yard score on three consecutive plays to cut Maryville’s lead to 33-28.

The kickoff fumble came only moments later, leading to Collins’ touchdown run that sealed the game.

Berry will be on the road Saturday as the Vikings face LaGrange College at Callaway Stadium. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.