Defense Tops Offense In Benedict Spring Game

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Benedict SID)– The defense used a fumble recovery, a safety and an interception to help lead the Purple squad over the Gold offense 28-18 in the annual Benedict College Purple-Gold spring football scrimmage on Saturday afternoon at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium.

“I thought there was a lot of enthusiasm and we went after each other very hard,” Benedict head football coach Mike White said. “We’re glad no one got injured and we looked a little better. Overall, I’m pretty pleased.

The defense used a fumble recovery and a safety, when a shotgun snap sailed over quarterback Mason Duckett’s head. Late in the contest, Duckett was rolling out and was pressured. He tried to get rid of the ball, but linebacker Collins Tensley batted the ball in the air and caught it for an interception worth four points to give the defense a 23-16 lead.

The offense picked up a 12-yard touchdown pass from Duckett to Darius Nelson on a fade pattern to the back corner of the end zone to give the Gold a 13-10 lead in the first half.

“He’s had a very good spring,” White said about Nelson. “He’s blocked extremely well, he’s caught the ball and what I’m very proud about is his leadership, which we need, has been very good this spring.”

Running back Brandon Jordan had a 25-yard run around the left side for an apparent score called back due to a holding penalty.

“I think we had too many miscues offensively,” White said. “Defensively, we are doing some things better, but we’ve still got a long way to go.”

White said he was pleased with the running backs, including Kendarius Garrett, who had several good runs in the scrimmage.

“Garrett’s had a good spring. He’s done very well this spring and should be an important player coming into the fall for us. I was really pleased with him.”

Freshman quarterback Phillip Brown was limited on the day with a strained hamstring, while Duckett took most of the snaps under center.

“That’s another position that we’ve got to have better play than we had today,” White said.

“Overall, we’ve still got some issues. I think I saw more mistakes than I wanted to, especially in the secondary. Once we go back and watch the film and evaluate, we’ll go from there, but it has been a very positive spring.”