COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers will attempt to do something Saturday when they wrap up the 2016 football season against Point University they have not accomplished since 209 – end the season with a winning record.
Benedict is 5-5 overall and takes on the Point University Skyhawks on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium. Point, an NAIA school from West Point, Ga., is 2-6 overall with an additional two wins over a pair of non-countable opponents. The game will be the final contest for five Benedict College seniors.
Benedict coach
Mike White said the focus this week has finishing the season on a high note and accomplishing one preseason goal – a winning record.
"We just want to come in and focus on ourselves and finish the season right on both sides of the ball and have a good last game and send the seniors out right," White said. "With the big win we had last week, that would be a huge disappointment not to come out and play well the last game. This is the last game for our seniors, so I think they'll be ready."
White doesn't want to take Point lightly. They play in the same conference as Southeastern, a team that beat the Tigers 35-20 in last year's season finale. The Skyhawks have a dangerous offensive threat at quarterback in sophomore quarterback Rashad Louie. He was named Sun Conference Player of the Week last week and leads the team in rushing (520 yards and three touchdowns), passing (588 yards and four touchdowns) and has also caught two passes for 57 yards.
"He'll be the main focus for our defense, trying to slow him down," White said.
For the Tigers, Saturday will be the final game for five seniors, including running back
George Myers Jr., named the SIAC MVP for 2016. Myers has rushed for 1,092 yards and five touchdowns. He's also added 118 yards on punt returns, 211 yards on kick returns and 55 yards receiving for 1,476 yards of total offense. And Myers didn't become the team's full-time running back until the third game of the season, and only played a couple of downs against Gardner-Webb, which boosts his per-game average to 155.4 yards in the seven games he was the featured running back.
"George has been our everything," White said. "He's done it all. He's been a soldier in what he does on the field. He's not a real big kid, but he's as tough as I don't know what with the licks he takes and how hard he runs inside and outside. We really just depend on him totally."
Myers said it was a commitment this season to come back strong after 2015's winless campaign.
"My last game is really emotional to me right now. I just thank God that we had a better season than last year. That was our focus coming into this year, to have a winning season. I feel very good about this season," Myers said. "It was a total team commitment. I just sacrificed for my teammates. It was a lot of work. We just said we were going to make the sacrifice. I talked to the offensive lineman and we just really stepped up with the running game."
Another key senior this season was linebacker
Stephen Williams, who finished with 58 total tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack and two interceptions. Williams is also considered one of the team leaders, both off and on the field.
"Stef is really special to me because he's somebody I can really count on," White said. "He's consistent, he's loyal. Stef is going to do fine when he leaves school because that's the kind of guy he is. He quarterbacks our defense and keeps us in the right front, and he's done everything we've asked of him. He is one of the biggest reasons we're better this year because of the offseason he had."
"Stef is a good leader," Myers said. "I thank him a lot for that. He's led the team to a new era for Benedict. I think we really set the tone for next year."
The Tigers will also say good-bye to defensive back
Harmon Brown, a starter in the secondary who went down with an injury late in the season, as well as offensive lineman
Nevrone Thomas and fullback/offensive lineman
Antonio Thomas.
"Antonio is a kid who hasn't played a lot this year because of injuries, and Nevrone the same thing. Both of them have been very loyal to the Tiger program and they're going to be missed," White said. "Harmon, he played hard and did everything we asked of him. We didn't know how good he would be coming back, but he worked his butt off this offseason and got better and it's just disappointing for him to end the season this way. We still miss him. We're very proud of what he's done and he leaves a good legacy here, just like all our seniors do for the young guys going forward."
White said the legacy of this year's seniors will always be remembered as the class who started to turn around the program and the leadership they provided.
"It makes me feel good because of where we came from. At one time, you were questioning the spirit of the guys, but the leadership never allowed us to stray away from that. So I was really proud of our leadership on the team and the seniors and how hard they worked," White said. "Last year was really disappointing in the way we played and how we finished, and that's why this season is so important because of the way we want to finish. I think it's important to keep the momentum going and Saturday will play a huge role in how we go into the offseason."
