Benedict Falls 24-19 To Stillman College

COLUMBIA, S.C. (BC SID) – Stillman College capitalized on a pair of Benedict College fumbles and held off a furious Benedict comeback to take a 24-19 victory on Saturday at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium. The loss drops the Benedict Tigers to 0-6 on the season, and 0-3 in the SIAC. Stillman improves to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the SIAC. “I thought these guys were going to win this football game. The effort was there,” said Benedict head coach James Woody. “The guys gave everything they had and fought down to the last second of the football game. If we had an extra five yards in the back of the end zone, we would have pulled it out. I’m proud of these guys. They didn’t give up.” Benedict trailed 24-10 heading into the fourth quarter and moved all the way to the Stillman 2-yard line on their first dive in the fourth quarter. The Benedict Tigers opted to go for the touchdown rather than kick a field goal and Chris Johnson was dropped for a four-yard loss. The Benedict Tigers got the ball back when Stillman’s Raymond Coats fumbled the ball, with Lamarcus Hudson recovering at the Stillman 13-yard line. After three straight incomplete passes, Benedict sent in Eduardo Hernandez for a 30-yard field goal to make it 24-13 with 8:32 left to play. The Stillman Tigers went three-and-out on their next drive and the Benedict Tigers drove 52 yards on seven plays, with Marcus Graham throwing a 25-yard pass to Kendariss Brown for the touchdown to cut the score to 24-19 with 4:33 left. Benedict went for a two-point conversion, but Graham’s pass was incomplete. Stillman was facing a fourth-and-three on its next series when punter Sean Allen tricked the Benedict defense and threw a 14-yard pass to Jamal Rodman for a first down. Stillman ended up punting four plays later, but the Benedict Tigers lost some precious time on the clock. The Benedict Tigers took over at their own 15-yard line with 1:32 left on the clock. Without a time out left, they were able to move the ball to midfield, where Graham unleashed a desperation pass to the end zone on the final play. Mujahid Assad caught the ball, but was out of bounds. Stillman led 7-0 after the first quarter, and capitalized on a pair of Benedict mistakes early in the second quarter. Harlon Samuels dropped a punt, but teammate Nicholas Cousar was able to jump on the ball and retain possession for Benedict. Two plays later from the 16-yard line, Samuels was playing quarterback in a wildcat formation, was chased backwards and fumbled the ball. Stillman’s Willie Huggins scooped up the loose ball and ran four yards into the end zone to put Stillman ahead 14-0. Stillman quarterback Josh Straughn was sacked and fumbled the ball late in the second half, with Benedict’s Joshua Wade picking up the loose ball and zigzagging across the field for a 40-yard return. The Benedict Tigers needed just three plays to score, with Graham finding Emmanuel Houston wide open in the back of the end zone. Hernandez’s PAT made it 14-7 with 1:10 left in the first half. The Tigers then cut the lead to 14-10 with 1:46 left in the first half on a 40-yard field goal by Hernandez. In the third quarter, Stillman drove and faced a first-and-goal from the Benedict 6-yard line, but the Tigers sacked Straughan on back-to-back plays, and Stillman tacked on a 34-yard field goal to make it 17-10 with 2:57 left in the third. On the next series, Benedict fumbled the ball deep on their own side of the field, and the Tigers gave up a 10-yard pass on third-and-nine, then Straughan threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Damian Ford to put the Stillman Tigers ahead 24-10 heading into the fourth quarter. Graham was 25-of-52 for 285 yards passing and two touchdowns. He did have one interception. Houston had six catches for 117 yards and a touchdown. Martin Epps had 11 tackles to lead the defense. Hudson had seven tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and fumble return. The Benedict Tigers recorded eight sacks on the day and held Stillman to just seven yards rushing. The Tigers travel to Clark Atlanta next week for a 2 p.m. game.