Benedict scored twice as many points Saturday than they scored in the first two games of the season combined to defeat Tuskegee 45-24 at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium in Columbia, SC.
“Our offense was a young offense and so you know we kind of struggled and had to keep chopping wood on offense,” said Tigers Head Coach Ron Dickerson, Jr. “We knew sooner or later we were gonna be able to make some plays and that’s what we did.”
They made plays in bunches to overtake Tuskegee, who had jumped out to a 17-7 lead on a 25-yard field goal by Lorcan Ryans. Dickerson’s young offense responded with touchdowns on each of its next three possessions in the half.
The Tigers’ dominance rolled over into the second half, adding 17 more points. Darius Ocean finished with 4 touchdowns and 213 yards on 19-of-29 passing. When the ball wasn’t in the air, the Tigers’ running back room was chewing up 176 yards on a combined 39 carries. Triston Morgan and David Smith rushed for 58 and 54 yards, respectively, to lead the rushing attack.
Ryans’ field goal spelled the end of the Golden Tigers’ offensive production. Benedict’s defense held Tuskegee to 55 yards on the Golden Tigers’ next five possessions and an interception.
Benedict’s near-perfect red zone scoring (5 of 6) more than made up for the secondary’s mistakes early in the game. “Our secondary didn’t play that good,” admitted Dickerson. “They were standing around watching, and we just gotta get that worked on. You know that’s something we need to get corrected going into next week.”
Why next week? Because they play Clark Atlanta on the road. The Panthers’ offense averages 27.25 points per game and 222 yards passing. They threw for 326 yards and scored four touchdowns in a loss to Allen University over the weekend.
Get ready for an epic matchup. Buy your tickets online today.