Benedict wins homecoming game Saturday against Clark
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COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers used a dominating defensive performance to beat the Clark Atlanta Panthers 14-3 on Saturday in front of a large Homecoming crowd at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium.
The Tigers held the SIAC’s top-rated offense to a season-low 130 yards, intercepted two passes and had a pair of sacks to improve to 4-2 on the season and 2-1 in the SIAC. The Panthers dropped their third straight game and fell to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the SIAC.
“I can’t say enough about the job the whole entire unit played,” said Benedict head coach Mike White. “We knew we had our work cut out for us. This team here can throw the ball extremely well. And we haven’t been playing great pass defense, so it was a great effort by the whole pass rush and the secondary to hold these guys under their average.”
Junior quarterback Christian Lisby, making his first appearance of the season after cleared to play by the NCAA last week, completed 20-of-30 passes for 200 yards, a season-high for the Tigers this season, with one interception. Lisby was stepping in for Dominique Harris, who was injured in the game against Central State two weeks ago.
“I thought he was solid. We talked about ball security and we didn’t want to see him turn the ball over,” White said. “I think most of the coaches and his teammates are really not surprised by the way he played and how calm he was and how he kind of controlled things. It was huge to have a quarterback like that come in and keep us going.”
Wide receiver Okechi Ntiasagwe caught a season-high 10 passes for a season-high 118 yards, including a sliding one-handed grab in the first half.
The Tigers rushed for a season-low 70 yards, while holding the Panthers to a season-low 25 yards on 18 attempts.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Tigers went on an 11-play, 53-yard drive just before the end of the first half. Lisby completed a 15-yard pass to Wayne Brown on third-and-10 to keep the drive alive. A pass interference call in the end zone gave Benedict a first-and-goal at the 3-yard line. Two plays later, Lisby snuck in from the 1-yard line for the game’s first touchdown. Tory Mimbsadded the extra point for a 7-0 lead with just 32 seconds left in the half.
The Panthers took over on a drive late in the third quarter and got to the Benedict 27-yard line where Clark Atlanta quarterback Jonathon McCrary threw three straight incomplete passes. Carlos Saldana kicked a 44-yard field goal with 14:40 left in the game to cut the lead to 7-3.
The Tigers took the ensuing possession and drove 75 yards on 12 plays. A 20-yard pass from Lisby to Ntiasagwe was the key play on the drive, giving the Tigers a first-and-goal at the CAU 10-yard line. A seven-yard pass to Ntiasagwe and a three-yard touchdown run by Jeremy Johnson gave the Tigers a 14-3 lead with 6:59 left.
Clark Atlanta drove to the Benedict 27-yard line, but McCrary was intercepted by Robert Cummings. After the Tigers punted the ball back to Clark Atlanta, Edward Kirkland intercepted McCrary in the end zone to seal the game.
“It’s a huge win. Clark soundly beat us last year,” White said. “To come back and beat them in the last Homecoming for these seniors, it means a lot. We’ll see another tough passing team this week, so we’ll have to regroup once again. What a great Homecoming win for us.”
Xavier George had five tackles to lead the defense, while Rickym Holmes added four tackles.
Benedict is on the road for the next two weeks, starting with a trip to Morehouse College in Atlanta next week for a 2 p.m. contest.
Benedict Athletics contributed to the writing of this article.
