The Berkley Bears lost 42-7 to the Bloomfield Hills Black Hawks at home Friday, Oct. 16. The nonleague defeat dropped the Bears to 3-5 on the season.
Bloomfield Hills improved to 4-4 with the win. Berkley has been outscored 240-110 across eight games, according to MaxPreps.
The loss is the latest setback for a program that entered the year with playoff ambitions. Sophomore quarterback Asher Dean told the Berkley Spectator in a Sept. 18 article that the team's goal was to win its Oakland Activities Association division.
"We, as a group, want to win the OAA, our division, because it's very important to us, and we all can see ourselves accomplishing that," Dean said.
Berkley went 3-2 in OAA Gold play and is listed second in the division by MaxPreps. The Bears beat Pontiac 21-0, Kettering 28-7 and Avondale 25-18 in overtime. Their two league losses came against Ferndale, 47-0, and Royal Oak, 35-23.
The Bears opened the season with three consecutive losses: 42-0 to Livonia Franklin, 49-6 to Birmingham Groves and 47-0 to Ferndale.
Berkley then beat Pontiac and Kettering in consecutive September games. Royal Oak ended that winning streak Oct. 2, though the Bears bounced back with the overtime win over Avondale on Oct. 9.
Friday's result was the fifth time Berkley allowed 35 or more points this season.
Senior captain Max Giles told the Berkley Spectator in the September article that Groves and Ferndale would be the toughest opponents on the schedule. Those games ended in Berkley's two largest margins of defeat this season.
The Bears travel to Athens in Troy at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, for their regular-season finale. The Red Hawks enter at 3-5 after a 28-0 win over Avondale, according to their MaxPreps schedule.
