Shamrocks hoping to hand Buchanan first loss of 2026

BERRIEN SPRINGS, Mich. -- It's the Under the Lights game of the week, undefeated edition. Two 3-0 teams enter, but only one will end Friday night with a still unblemished record.

Friday night in Buchanan, an unstoppable force will meet an immovable object. The Bucks have a stellar defense, but is it strong enough to shut down an explosive Shamrock offense that's averaging nearly 60 points a game through the first three weeks of the season?

Berrien springs head coach Ben Iliff telling ABC57 his guys have what it takes to move that immovable object.

"We've got to go out and execute, got to play hard, not make mistakes and make it easier for them, they're going to play hard, they're going to come after us and we've got to play just as hard, maybe even harder and take it to them," says Iliff.

This is the Shamrocks' second time on Under the Lights this season, but Coach Iliff believes this team is a different than the one we saw a few weeks ago. It's a team that's gotten even better.

"We've got a number of guys stepping up and we have each other's backs and playing as a team, a lot of guys have touched the ball and scored touchdowns, defense, it's everybody playing as one unit, doing their job, nobody's trying to be the hero on defense, just do their job, defense succeeds overall," says Iliff.

This game is a rivalry matchup, and the first Lakeland conference game of the year for Berrien Springs. Senior wide receiver and defensive back Bronson Wiley says trust will be key to a victory.

"Trusting our quarterback, trusting our receivers, trusting our work that we put in over the summer, our quarterback throwing footballs to those guys playing man, it's just a lot of trust and we have that trust," says Wiley.

Coach Iliff knows the task will be tough for him and his Shamrock squad Friday.
In order to leave Buchanan's Memorial Field still undefeated, Berrien Springs has to eliminate the mental mistakes.

"The last two games, we've come out strong, but then right before halftime, we kind of hit a lull a little bit, a penalty induced lull as well, we've got to keep our focus and not have those yellow flags come out and just play strong all the way through the half," says Iliff.

The Shamrocks and Bucks will square off from Memorial Field in Buchanan Friday at 7 p.m.