Benedict’s defense too much for Livingstone
Benedict’s offense showed signs of life, but defense remained the name of the game Saturday at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium.
In the 16th Palmetto Capital City Classic, the Tigers dominated Livingstone at the line of scrimmage and walked off the field with a 28-15 victory over the Blue Bears.
“We’re better than we were last year,” Benedict coach Mike White said. “But we’ve got a long way to go to play a complete ballgame. I’m just happy we came out with more points than they did, that’s it.”
Classic Player of the Game Trini Charlton led the way for the Tigers with 126 yards on 15 carries, including a 60-yard third-quarter touchdown run that gave Benedict a 21-8 lead.
“We’ve got a great O-line, I didn’t do nothing,” Charlton said. “They opened the holes, and I ran through them.”
Dominique Harris, a junior playing for the first time since 2012, was 10-for-25 passing for 117 yards and two interceptions, but he threw a 16-yard TD pass to Wayne Brown in the fourth quarter to secure a 28-8 lead.
“We just gotta get consistent with him and the things we’re doing,” White said. “We’re kind of learning each other here, some of the things he can do and some of the things can be very potent, but we’ve got to do a better job at protecting him.”
The Tigers defense, which had shut down the Blue Bears 5-3 in the Classic a year ago, remained just as stingy.
Livingstone had 141 rushing yards in the game, including Jarius Richardson’s 50-yard run that wound up as a fumble in the end zone and a change of possession. The Tigers defense limited the Blue Bears to two first downs and 105 total yards in the first half.
“I thought that’s where our strength was,” White said about controlling the line of scrimmage. “We kept them from running, we put good pressure on the passer, but then we missed a few tackles and all of a sudden it changed the game.”
Benedict made Livingstone struggle in the first half.
Benedict scored first on Harris’ 2-yard touchdown run at the 7:12 mark of the first quarter. The point-after failed.
Early in the second quarter with the Blue Bears at their own 4-yard line, Jamal Heard and Amari Andrews zeroed in on quarterback Xavier Longerbeam. They put him down in the end zone for a safety at the 14:09 mark.
A muffed punt reception led to Raheem Jennings recovering the ball in the end zone to put the Tigers up 14-0 with under three minutes left in the half.
Richardson’s 50-yard run to the end zone late in the second quarter livened the Livingstone crowd, but Edward Kirkland punched the ball free before Richardson crossed the goal line.
The Blue Bears scored with Thaddeus Bell’s 31-yard TD pass to Richardson early in the third. Justin Ruffin rushed in for the 2-point conversion.
Livingstone’s short rally ended when Richardson broke free for a 60-yard touchdown run.
Harris’ 16-yard TD pass to Brown in the fourth quarter gave the Tigers a 20-point lead.
Livingstone got a final score with 1:05 to go, but Benedict took a knee in the final possession.
“We went to practice every day, we fixed our mistakes,” Charlton said of his team’s second consecutive Classic win. “When we came out today, we put our heads in the game and followed through with it.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2017 at 10:07 PM with the headline "Benedict’s defense too much for Livingstone."