TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A pair of first-quarter back-to-back interceptions set the tone for the day, as the Stillman College Tigers took advantage of a season-high eight turnovers and cruised to a dominating 44-0 victory over the Benedict College Tigers in an NCAA Division II football game Saturday.
Benedict drops to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the SIAC. Stillman improves to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the SIAC.
Benedict managed just 102 yards of offense and had just 27 yards in the first half.
“We didn't come out to play,” said Benedict interim head coach James Woody. “A lot of turnovers, a lot of blown assignments. We're still young and raw right now. Not making excuses, but we played very poorly. To Stillman's credit, they played sound football. They executed very well.”
Benedict received the opening kickoff and had its best drive of the game, moving to the Stillman 22-yard line before quarterback Chris Thomas was picked off by Stillman's Bryant Mosley. Stillman took advantage of the turnover and drove 58 yardss on six plays to score the first touchdown of the game, a 27-yard pass from Dondre Purnell to Roger Dixon.
On Benedict's next offensive play, Thomas threw another interception and Stillman capitalized by driving 31 yards before Alejandro Perez-Huerta kicked a 41-yard field goal to put the Stillman Tigers ahead 9-0.
A 62-yard bomb from Purnell to Desmond Holloway, and two more Stillman touchdowns after recovering Benedict fumbles put the Stillman Tigers ahead 30-0 at the half.
On eight second-half offensive series, Benedict moved the ball into Stillman territory just once, with that drive ending at the Stillman 30-yard line before fumbling the ball away. The Benedict Tigers lost six fumbles on the day.
Johnny Carson, who played quarterback in the second half, led the BC Tigers with 31 yards rushing on 17 carries. Carson was 3-for-12 passing for 23 yards. Thomas completed 5-of-12 passes for 34 yards with two interceptions and had -40 yards rushing.
“Right now we're trying to identify a quarterback, some guy that can lead us,” Woody said. “Right now, that's a problem we're having. We missed a lot of open shots early and that changed the mode of the game and we never could get back in the groove.”
Purnell completed 7-of-16 passes for 156 yards and four touchdowns with one interception for Stillman. He also led the team with 65 yards rushing.
Justin Shaw and Jamaa Massaline led the Benedict defense with seven tackles each. Jeremy Vaughn had an interception.
The Benedict Tigers return to action next Saturday, facing Clark Atlanta at home. The Homecoming contest kicks off at 2 p.m.
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