Irmo beats down Berkeley. Yellow Jackets back in state title game

Irmo turned the Class 5A Division II Lower State championship into a highlight reel show — and now the Yellow Jackets have earned back-to-back state championship game appearances for the first time since 1978-1979 after a 44-6 dismantling of Berkeley on Friday night at W.C. Hawkins Stadium.

Maleek Miller scored three times, Amire White added two scores and Jaiden Bryant added a scoop-and-score in a game that Irmo dominated most of the night.

“We always wondered if the guys were ready every week ... but they went out and proved it every Friday night,” Irmo coach Aaron Brand said. “We lost some key components from last year, and for us to be back in this situation with a chance to win a state championship ... is gratifying. The work is not done. We’re not happy just to get there. We want to go out and perform next week.”

Irmo gets a rematch with Northwestern next Friday at 7:30 p.m. at S.C. State’s Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. The Trojans won last year’s meeting 34-31 in a classic.

Miller opened the scoring with 7:46 remaining in the first half when he raced 24 yards to cap a six-play, 66-yard drive. After the Yellow Jackets forced a three-and-out on the Stags’ next series, White and QB Drevon Dopson went right back to work. Dopson connected with Amire White on a 23-yard pass to get into the red zone, and White carried it the rest of the way, scoring on a 2-yard run with 3:14 remaining in the half.

Miller finished with 62 yards rushing on 11 attempts, 43 yards on five catches and had a 65-yard punt return.

“He gets some blockers in front of him, he’s got a chance to make some plays,” Brand said of Miller. “He gets those blocks and he cuts as good as any player I’ve ever had.”

Irmo’s defense added to that total just 52 seconds later when Bryant picked up a loose ball around the 10-yard line and danced into the end zone for a 20-0 lead.

The Stags (10-3) mounted their best drive of the night just before the half and scored on a 16-yard TD pass from Henry Rivers to Malik Callen with 32 seconds remaining in the half.

The Yellow Jackets (12-1) received the second half kickoff and were methodical on a 13-play drive that ended with a 27-yard field goal by Tucker Williams near the halfway point of the third quarter.

It stayed that way until the first play of the fourth quarter, when the Yellow Jackets went on a three-touchdown scoring spree in just over four minutes.

White started the flurry with a 26-yard run to push the lead to 30-6. Irmo recovered a pooch kick, and White added to his night with a 29-yard scoring run at the 9:33 mark. Berkeley went three-and-out on the next offensive series, and Miller capped off his huge night with a 65-yard punt return for a score.

White led the Irmo attack with 143 yards on 12 carries. Dopson was 13 of 19 passing for 119 yards. The Irmo defense held Berkeley to 229 yards of total offense.

This story was originally published November 28, 2025 at 11:44 PM.