No. 3 Berryhill 27, No. 4 Tulsa Victory Christian 6

Friday, December 3rd 2004, 11:29 pm

By: News On 6

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (AP) -- Rowdy Palmers' 75-yard punt return for a touchdown broke a scoreless tie and gave Berryhill the momentum it needed Friday to beat Tulsa Victory Christian 27-6 for its first Class 3A football championship.

"It was tough staying in bounds -- I had to lean back in because I was actually falling out," said Palmer, a junior defensive back. "I just followed our blocks. Special teams are so important, especially in a tight game like this."

Victory Christian (13-1) answered with a 64-yard touchdown drive on the next series, as Todd Cherry scored on 5-yard run with 11:33 left in the second quarter. But the extra point attempt was blocked.

Berryhill (14-0) went up 14-6 with 2:31 left in the second quarter on Justin Radebaugh's 3-yard touchdown run and never looked back.

Joey Voss scored on a 1-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 21-6 advantage, and a 26-yard touchdown run by senior running back Daniel Dolan midway through the fourth quarter finished the scoring.

Dolan rushed for 109 on 16 carries in the second half, eating time from the clock at the same time. Dolan, who had 1,129 yards rushing before the game, finished with a game-high 136 yards on 21 carries.

"Our toughness was the key. I think we wore them down," Berryhill coach Gary Harper said.

Berryhill had made four trips to the state semifinals in the 1990s, but had never advanced to a state title game. The Chiefs advanced to the title game last week by beating defending state champion Kingfisher in the semifinals.

"This team and all of Berryhill deserves this," Harper said.

Berryhill's defense allowed the Conquerors just 96 yards of total offense.

Victory went into the game averaging 36.3 points per game.