COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Purple team took advantage of three turnovers, worth three points each, to defeat the Gold Team, 16-7, in Benedict College's spring football game on Friday night in Charlie W. Johnson Stadium.
 
But the real winner was the Benedict College football program, according to head coach Ron Dickerson Jr. A year ago, less than two months after being hired to take over the Tiger program, Dickerson and his staff had less than 40 players during the 2024 spring practice. They concluded spring practice with a glorified practice that Dickerson labeled a "Spring Showcase," since there weren't enough players to have any sort of scrimmage.
 
"I was really excited to have a spring game," Dickerson said. "Last year we weren't really able to do anything. This year we were able to have two teams. It was exciting. Everybody got the opportunity to play. There's always a winner and a loser, and there's a lot of things we have to learn from it. But I was just excited to see the growth."
 
Each team scored one offensive touchdown. Malaqhi Jones caught a touchdown pass from Bryce Bowens for the Purple squad. Israel Rhodes had a rushing touchdown for the Gold squad.
 
The Purple team, led by assistant coach Da'Von Smith, had a pair of interceptions and recovered one fumble. Turnovers were worth three points in the spring game scoring system.
 
"Defense wins championships," Smith said. "Today, our defense came through. It's a blessing to have defense at all times. Thank you to Coach (Marcus) Spearman. He did a great job of getting the defense ready."
 
Donte Drake and Jeremiah Jennings each picked off a pass, while Josh Modupe recovered the fumble.
 
Dickerson said there were plenty of positives to take out of the hour-long spring game.
 
"The quarterbacks played well and made some good decisions," Dickerson said. "The receivers caught well. The D-line played well, the linebackers played well. Everybody did a great job of getting better over the spring. As a team, overall Benedict got better."
 
Benedict will kick off the 2025 season on Aug. 30 at home against Fayetteville State University.