Benedict Blows Out Lane 39-7

JACKSON, Tenn. (BC SID) — The Benedict College Tigers took advantage of several Lane College turnovers and scored 26 second-half points to defeat the Dragons 39-7 on Saturday at Lane Field. The game was delayed more than 90 minutes as a storm with heavy rains and lightning blew through the area just as the players got on the field for pre-game warm-ups. Once the storm passed, the game was played on a muddy and sloppy field. The win snapped a three-game losing streak in the series with Lane. “I was real happy these guys played well on all three phases,” Benedict head coach James Woody said. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do. The offense was in the red zone three or four times, and we’ve still got to find a way to make touchdowns in the red zone and take advantage of these turnovers. I was real disappointed with the red zone, but that’s something we can work on next week. I was pretty pleased with special teams. We created a couple of blocked punts. The defense played extremely well. Coach (Antwan) Nicholas and the defensive staff had a good game plan coming in to help our offense. I’m very proud of this football team.” Benedict took a 13-7 lead at the half after a 12-yard pass from Cameron Stover to Kendariss Brown and two field goals by Tory Mimbs. The Tigers had a pair of big special teams play in the second half. Jeremy Glinton blocked a punt and recovered the ball for a Tiger touchdown. Later, Glinton recovered a muffed punt, which led to a Benedict touchdown by George Myers Jr. An interception by Harmon Brown led to a long touchdown pass from Stover to Kendariss Brown. Tyquan Bazemore added another rushing touchdown to close out the scoring for Benedict. After gaining just 56 yards last week against S.C. State, the Tigers had a strong day running the ball against the Dragons. “We knew we had to run the football. I thought (Jevric) Blocker ran extremely well, (Kenneth) Hurley, all those backs ran extremely well,” Woody said. “I was glad to see them pick up some yardage when we needed it. I was real happy for the backs today.” Woody also gave credit to the Benedict offensive line for their strong play in controlling the line of scrimmage. “I’m really happy for the offensive line. In the second half, they played extremely well, blocking the zones that we had and getting after people,” Woody said. Benedict now has a rare week off before taking on Elizabeth City State University in the Down East Viking Classic in Rocky Mount, N.C. on Sept. 20. “We need a week off, because we have a lot of stuff to clean up,” Woody said. “There were too many penalties, too many holding penalties, too many offsides penalties. That’s just the mental part of the game.”