Whenever we think of high school football, we always want to look at who is moving onto the next level. However, we never stop and look at a player that may end his career at high school, but we are going to do that here.
Liam Sarris just ended his senior year at Berkley High School and has verbally committed to Kalamazoo College. This was not always in the cards for Sarris as he injured himself during his Junior season which caused him to miss much of that season. Sarris first jumped onto our radar this season when he rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns against Lincoln Park. What was not known to us at the time, that was the first time he had ever taken a handoff in a game. After he came back from his injury, Berkley moved Sarris from his Wide Receiver spot to the Running Back position.
This season Berkeley had their best records since 2016 and combined to win the same number of games as they had in Sarris first 3 years. That according to Sarris is due in part to a culture change. “It was an all or nothing aspect,” and me along with the other captains made that clear. “We lost some people, but the effort that we had day in, and day out was a mentality.” What really soured that culture change however was the possibility of no season and Sarris said, “when the season was originally canceled the younger guys realized how much they really loved football.” It was a wakeup call of sorts for Sarris and the Berkley Bears.
Being a captain on the team Sarris had more responsibility and that meant getting out of his comfort zone. What helped him though was the playing of multiple positions on offense saying “I still have to work to play. Nothing is handed to anyone.” He went on to say, “everyone seeing me get moved around motivated the rest of the team.”
The move to running back was challenging for Sarris because of how you get the ball “when I was at the Receiver position, I would get the ball in space, however at running back I have to create my space.”
Now that he is committed to Kalamazoo College Sarris said he is moving back to his normal wide receiver spot; however, he went on to say, “I’ll play wherever I’m needed.” The two big offers for Sarris were from Kalamazoo and Madonna, however he said “the kzoo campus and scenery is beautiful.” He continued by saying “From the instant I stepped foot on the campus I felt at home and knew that’s where I want to be.” While out at Kalamazoo College Sarris plans to study psychology to help prepare him for a job in law enforcement.