The Benton Tigers fell to the Northwood Falcons 49-16 in Stephen Dennis’ debut as head coach Friday night at Newman-Mason Field at Tiger Stadium.
“They had a good gameplan,” Dennis said “Hat’s off to them. We just didn’t execute. You just have to go back into the lab and figure out how to get better.”
Northwood, which went 10-2 last season, scored on passes of 60 and 47 yards in the first quarter.
After the Falcons’ first touchdown, Benton’s Malachi Zeigler completed a 39-yard pass to the Northwood 13. But the Tigers had to settle for a 30-yard Will Petro field goal.
Benton failed to convert a fourth down near midfield and the Falcons took advantage, driving 52 yards for a touchdown and a 21-3 lead early in the second quarter.
The Tigers defense played better in the second quarter, forcing a couple of punts. But the offense couldn’t get anything going.
Zeigler faced heavy pressure and the Falcons shut down the Tigers’ running game.
After Northwood downed a punt at the 1, Benton was forced to punt out of its end zone.
The Falcons had to go only 18 yards for its fourth touchdown after the Tigers were penalized on the return.
Northwood led 28-3 at the half.
Benton came out strong in the third quarter. The Tigers took over at their 46 after a short kickoff and drove to the Falcons 39.
Zeigler threw a short pass to Owen Patterson over the middle. He caught it at about the 35, made some good moves to avoid defenders and sprinted to the end zone.
Northwood answered with a touchdown drive and led 35-10.
Later in the quarter, Benton advanced to the Northwood 2. Under a heavy rush on fourth down from the 6, Zeigler had to get rid of the ball and his pass fell incomplete.
The Falcons then drove 94 yards for a touchdown. They scored on a 32-yard pass.
Jaxsin Johnson scored Benton’s final touchdown on a 5-yard run in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to 42-16.
Dennis said his team played better in the second half.
“It wasn’t at the level it needs to be,” he said. “As a coach that’s my job. You can have the best lesson plan in the world and if the kids don’t execute on the exam you’ve got to go back and figure out where you missed, where you’ve go to reteach.
“So I’ve got some reteaching to do. I’ve got to design a lesson plan to put our kids a chance and in a position to be successful and pass the test. That’s my number one job. And so that’s what I’m going to go to work to do.”
Benton opens District 1-5A play Friday night at Airline. The defending champion Vikings defeated Barbe 56-27 in their opener.