WATCH: Tigers crush Shaw to Open season, 52-0
COLUMBIA, S.C. – It may be a new year, but the Benedict College Tigers were reminiscent of the dominant and championship team of a year ago, opening the 2023 season with a 52-0 victory over Shaw University in the Carolinas Classic on Saturday night in front of a televised audience.
“First of all, to God be the glory. I’m just proud of the coaches and players. It was finally good to get out here and play a game,” said Benedict head coach Chennis Berry. “With all the talk about the offseason and the expectations, we had an opportunity now to get out and get our first game and come away with a win. I thought we played well in all three phases – offense, defense and special teams. And if you do that, you have an opportunity to win football games.”
The Tigers accumulated 451 yards of total offense, with a balanced combination of rushing (197 yards, three touchdowns) and passing (254 yards, three touchdowns). The defense did not miss a beat from last year’s formidable unit, holding the Bears to 169 yards of offense. Shaw star running back Sidney Gibbs rushed for 75 yards, but the Bears as a team finished with just 77 yards on the ground.
“Like I said all off-season, I think we have a chance to have a better defense than we had last year. Guys play hard together and our whole defensive staff remains intact, and we added some pieces to the puzzle and we brought back a lot of the guys who played on last year’s defense. I think they have a chance to have a real good year on the defensive side of the ball.”
The Tigers finished with four sacks and eight tackles for loss, and forced one fumble, recovered by Jayden Broughton on the second play of the game that set up Benedict’s first score – an 11-yard run by Noah Zaire Scotland just a minute and a half into the game.
Quarterback Aeneas Dennis completed 13-of-21 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns in his Tiger debut. He connected with freshman Caden High for a 70-yard touchdown in the second quarter for a 14-0 lead, then threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Taylor just before the half for a 28-0 lead.
“I thought he ran the operation of our offense well,” Berry said about Dennis’ first game. “We know there’s going to be some growing pains, but we thought he did a fairly good job. He took care of the football, he didn’t turn it over. And he showed his ability to be a good dual threat quarterback because he was able to make some plays with his arm as well as his legs.”
Benedict then scored on their first three possessions of the second half, getting a 14-yard touchdown run by Scotland, a 44-yard field goal by new kicker Tom Piccirillo, then Scotland threw a halfback pass to Billy Pierre for an 18-yard touchdown to push the lead to 45-0. The final score came in the fourth quarter on a 15-yard pass from Zavien Foster to Pierre.
“It was a good team win,” Berry said. “We had a good lead at the half, and I told them we have to come out like it is zero to zero, and they came out with a hunter mentality. We still are Tigers, and the last time I checked, Tigers hunt. We’ll get better between game one and game two. That’s usually the signs of a good football team.”
Benedict travels to Jacksonville, Florida next Saturday to open SIAC play against Edward Waters. Kickoff is 4 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN+.
