Rough start as Benedict falters

The Mike White era as coach of the Benedict Tigers got off to a rough start on Saturday as the Tigers lost 49-6 to Livingstone.

A crowd of 7,825 watched the annual Palmetto Capital City Classic game at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium.

Benedict’s only score of the day came on a 73-yard pass from freshman quarterback Kalu Onumah to wide receiver Okechi Ntiasaqwe. The kick was blocked.

Onumah completed 10-of-22 passes for 174 yards, with the one TD and one interception.

Ntiasaqwe finished the day with three catches for 92 yards.

White stressed having a stout defense while winning multiple conference championships at Albany State, but Benedict gave up 604 yards of offense to the Blue Bears.

“I thought our perimeter (defense) was terrible. We got cut down all night. I just thought we gave up too many big plays, on the ground and in the air. That’s something we’ll have to work on,” White said.

White’s Tigers are extremely young. Benedict has 27 freshmen and 22 sophomores. About 75 percent of Benedict’s roster this season are first or second-year players.

White had been preaching patience this preseason.

“We’re a young team. We want to play hard,” White said. “We want to line up and just let the guys not worry a whole lot about trying to think too much and just allow them to play and play fast.”

Onumah threw for more than 1,000 yards with 13 touchdowns at Meadowcreek High in Norcross, Ga., last year.

“He’s still, when he gets into a tight spot, not making good decisions or throwing the ball away,” White said. “He’ll still try to stick in there and do something as a young guy will do sometimes.”

White said the Tigers like Onumah’s size at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, and his ability to deliver the ball.

“Right off, he seems to be executing versus air, but when you put those 11 defenders over there and you take his first threat away is when we’re having some issues,” White said.

“No question about it, he’s our best receiver,” White said of Ntiasagwe, who had 286 yards receiving and four touchdowns last year as a freshman.

Livingstone featured a high-powered no-huddle offensive attack. The Blue Bears returned quarterback Drew Powell, the 2014 CIAA Offensive Player of the Year, and wide receiver Jalen Hendricks, a preseason All-American, from an offense that averaged 32 points per game last season.

Powell rushed for one touchdown and passed for two TDs against Benedict.

“They were a lot more physical team than us tonight. I thought that was the huge difference. We’re still having some alignment and assignment problems, but we’ll get better. I’m not discouraged at all. I thought we’d be a little better offensively. But we’ll get better next week,” White said.

Still, White is optimistic about the future of his team.

“I like the attitude. I like the way we’re working and I see big things in the future.”