WINDSOR – A junior varsity battle of the titans occurred here Thursday night.

Bertie rallied to a 22-14 win over rival Hertford County and laid claim to their first junior varsity football title since 2000.

&uot;Both teams played an excellent game,&uot; first-year Bertie skipper Randy Whitaker said. &uot;It was a hard-fought game like we expected.

&uot;The conference championship was our goal and we were able to accomplish that,&uot; he added. &uot;A lot of credit should go to Coach (Calvin) Moore and Coach (Michael) Morris.&uot;

Whitaker said last year’s conference championship win for Hertford County, which the Bears won 68-0, was a motivating factor for the Falcons.

&uot;Last year’s game stuck with us and we didn’t want to let that happen again,&uot; he said. &uot;A big key was stopping them at the six-yardline just before halftime.&uot;

The Falcons scored on their opening drive to take the early lead.

Quarterback O.J. Dobbin connected with Scott Hall on a 17-yard touchdown strike with 6:17 to play in the first quarter. The conversion failed, leaving Bertie ahead 6-0.

Hertford County answered when, after recovering a Bertie fumble, the Bears went 20 yards on three plays to deadlock the score.

Charles Ramsey put the ball in the endzone from seven yards out to make it 6-all.

A blocked punt helped the Bears setup shop at the Bertie 29-yardline in the second quarter. It took just one play, a touchdown run from A.J. Francis for HCHS to capitalize. Ramsey scored the conversion to make it 14-6 with 6:27 to play in the first half.

The only other threat in the first half came when Hertford County traveled to the Bertie six-yardline only to have a penalty and a tackle in the backfield end the threat of a score.

Neither team found the endzone in the third quarter, though an interception by Omar Outlaw on the last play of the period set the Falcons up for their next touchdown.

It took Bertie six plays to go 67 yards for the score.

Dobbin found Hall on a 43-yard touchdown pass to get the Falcons on the board again. Raymond Hooker added the conversion run to deadlock the score at 14-all.

The final score of the game came about when the Bears failed to convert a fourth down play late in the contest.

Lamanuel Murphy set up the score when he went 42 yards on the next play from scrimmage to give Bertie the ball on the 15-yardline. A Hertford County penalty moved it to the eight and Hooker punched it in from there. Hooker added the two-point conversion to give Bertie a 22-14 lead.

Hertford County fumbled away their next possession, but the Falcons gave it back three plays later. The Bears couldn’t get closer than the 50-yardline, however, as the Falcons clinched the league title.

Bertie finished the season 8-2 overall and 6-0 inside the league. The Bears finished 8-2 and 5-1 in the conference.