COLUMBIA, S.C. – There was no miracle finish for the 2011 Benedict College Tigers football team, as a last-second, last-ditch effort fell short and Lane College took a 19-13 victory Saturday in a NCAA Division II contest at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium.
Trailing 19-0 at the half, Benedict rallied with a pair of touchdowns in the second half and got the ball with 1:01 left in the game and 77 yards away from a potential game-winning touchdown and extra point.
The Tigers picked up some big yardage, as quarterback
Simeon Kelley rushed for gains of 12 and 20 yards, and then completed a 17-yard pass to
Harlon Samuels for a first down at the 23-yard line. But then the Tigers stalled, with Kelley throwing an incomplete pass on first down, a delay of game penalty on second down pushed them back five yards, and Kelley was sacked on the next play. He spiked the ball to stop the clock, giving the Tigers a fourth down at the 31-yard line with two seconds left. Kelley dropped back and was looking deep, but his arm was hit as he threw the ball and it fell to the ground.
The Tigers finished the 2011 season 2-8 overall and 1-6 in the SIAC. Lane improved to 4-6 overall and 2-5 in the SIAC.
Once again the Tigers were plagued by turnovers, losing three fumbles and throwing four interceptions. A bad snap on a punt in the first quarter led to a safety for Lane.
“What did we have, seven or eight turnovers? You can't win football games like that,” said interim head football coach
James Woody. “This is a young football team. These guys have overcome a lot and I'm mostly proud of them because they're fighting. They're giving everything they have to give, and that's all I can accept. I can appreciate the effort they're giving. Not one guy is not trying to win. I'm just so proud of these guys, I take my hat off to them.”
“We just had a lot of mistakes, from special teams, offense, defense. Tough penalties bringing us back. That's all part of growing up and learning from those mistakes. Hopefully we can learn from them in the future.”
Lane scored first when a bad snap went out of bounds for a safety to give Lane a 2-0 lead.
On Benedict's next drive, quarterback
Johnny Carson's second pass was intercepted by Lane's Tyren Futch, leading to a 37-yard field goal by Lane's Ryan Bullock for a 5-0 lead with 1:04 left in the first quarter.
Carson threw another interception in the second quarter, and the Dragons went on an 11-play, 55-yard drive, with quarterback Alan Ferguson running the ball in from a yard out to give Lane a 12-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff,
Harlon Samuels fumbled, with Lane recovering at the 19-yard line. Ferguson threw a 19-yard pass to William Golston on the first play from scrimmage and Lane took a 19-0 lead into the lockerroom.
Benedict turned the tables in the second half, with
Justin Shaw forcing a fumble by Ferguson, and
Gregory Smith recovering at the 39-yard line. Two plays later, Carson connected with
Emmanuel Houston for a 40-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 19-7 with 12:23 left in the third quarter.
The Tigers made it 19-13 when Kelley found Houston in the left corner of the end zone for a 14-yard scoring strike with 9:11 left in the game.
Andy Polanco missed the point-after kick.
Benedict got the ball back with 5:09 left in the game after Shaw forced a fumble and recovered for the Tigers at the Lane 38-yard line. The Tigers moved to the 13-yard line, before Kelley was sacked and fumbled.
The Dragons punted away, giving the Tigers the ball one last time with a minute to go, but the Tigers couldn't reach the end zone.
“I'm proud of that offensive line today, they fought like hell in the second half and did what they had to do and we had a chance to win at the end,” Woody said. “We had some guys wide open, but we're down to our third quarterback and we just couldn't overcome it.”
Benedict finished with 254 yards of total offense, after just 47 yards in the first half. The Tigers had 134 yards rushing, led by 50 yards from Tyquan Bazemore and 47 yards from
Thomas McBride. Houston finished with six catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns.
Cordell Rodgers and
Dyrell Porcha led the defense with 10 tackles each.
With the season over, the Tigers look to the future, as Woody and his coaching staff hit the road to recruit. Woody also is hoping to remove the interim coaching tag from his job title.
“I'm looking to move forward with this program. I want to be here. I'll leave it up to the administration and whatever they decide to do, I'm all for it, but I want to be here as long as I live.”
