Statesboro High head coach Matt Dobson knew Benedictine had some explosive players coming to Womack Field. Friday night he had a chance to see just how scary they can be in the open field as the Cadets shook off an impressive Statesboro first half and scored six touchdowns from 30 yards out or more knocking off Statesboro 42-21.
“Our kids played hard,” Dobson said. “We had moments on both sides of the ball but they had way more explosive plays. You can’t do that and add two turnovers against a good team and expect to win. I thought we played pretty well in the first half but let them come out and make too many big plays in the second half.”
Trailing 14-7 the Cadets Eron Mallard, who has committed to Purdue, scored the next four touchdowns of the game. He would haul in touchdown passes of 38-yards, 30-yards, and 59-yards before getting a chance to run as he went 50-yards for his fourth score of the game to put BC up 35-14. Mallard ended the game with seven receptions for 172-yards and had 57 yards on the ground.
“He is a Division-1 Power-4 commit for a reason,” Dobson said. “He is really good, but we are going to see other guys like that and we have to find a way to limit the big plays and get pressure on the quarterback.”
Statesboro High and Benedictine were once region opponents and had a pretty good rivalry in the 80s and 90s. The two teams haven’t played in since 1997 until Friday’s region opener at Womack Field. The Cadets came in ranked No. 4 in the state and showed why, but it wasn’t smooth sailing early on.
On their opening drive Statesboro converted on a pair of fourth downs and scored on a 21-yard pass from Beckham Jarrard to Davis Harrison for a 7-0 lead. With a chance at adding to it from the one Statesboro was in the Wildcat formation and D.J. Brooks bobbled the snap. BC recovered and took over at the three-yard line.
“We had that fumble at the one and a touchdown called back from a penalty,” Dobson said. “Who knows what happens if we could have those two plays back.”
The Statesboro defense got them the ball back holding the Cadets in check and Statesboro got a 56-yard pass from Jarrard to M.J. Kimble inside the six-yard line. Jarrard would score from there keeping it up the middle to give Statesboro a 14-0 lead.
Benedictine answered with a 35-yard touchdown run by VA Tech commit Stanley Smart Jr, and then a 38-yard pass from quarterback Omari Burse to Mallard to tie the game at 14-14. Statesboro would then go on a seven-minute drive but would get a 42-yard field goal blocked as the horn sounded for halftime.
Benedictine added a pair of Mallard touchdowns to go up 35-14. Statesboro looked like they would cut the lead to seven on a 43-yard pass from Jarrard to D.J. Brooks who fought his way into the end zone. A blindside block at the five-yard line would take points off the board and Statesboro failed to convert on fourth and long.
The Blue Devils scored their only points of the second half on a 40-yard pass from Jarrard to White, but the Cadets answered quickly after a failed onside kick Cole Henderson went 46-yards on their first play from scrimmage for the final points of the game.
Benedictine ended with 517 yards of offense while Statesboro had 403 yards. Jarrard finished with 260 yards passing while Burse had 240 for BC.
Statesboro and Benedictine are now both 3-1 on the season. Statesboro will host Ware County next Friday at Womack Field.
