Stephen Dennis came very close to getting his first victory as Benton’s head coach against his former team Friday night at Independence Stadium.
The Tigers came up just short, falling 59-57 to the Huntington Raiders. Benton fell to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in District 1-5A. Huntington improved to 1-2 and 1-1.
Dennis spent the previous eight years as head coach at Huntington before accepting the job at Benton.
The game was an offensive show from the get-go.
Benton played catchup throughout the second half.
Every time Benton scored, Huntington answered with one.
The Tigers cut the lead to 59-57 on a 3-yard run by Greg Chambers and Will Petro’s PAT with 3:26 left in the game.
But Huntington was able to pick up first downs and run out the clock.
Benton got within two three times from late in the third quarter until the final score.
Case Austin scored on an 18-yard pass from Malachi Zeigler to make the score 45-43.
Zeigler scored to make it 52-50 with 10 minutes left.
The Tigers put together a good goalline stand but Huntington quarterback Justin Whitaker scored on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 6:23 left to make it 59-50.
“I thought the offensive kids and offensive staff did a phenomenal job,” Dennis said. “Our OC Jeff Bordelon called an incredible game.
“Defensively we’ve got to find a way to execute a little better and get one or two stops.”
Dennis gave credit to new Huntington Head Coach John Simon.
“Coach Simon and that group did a great job,” he said. “Very talented player at quarterback. Adrian Johnson at receiver over there. Running back did a great job. Those kids did a great job to find a way to get two more points than us.
“Hats off to them but really proud of how our offense played. Kids played hard on defense. We just didn’t execute. We’ve got to find a way to get better.”
Dennis had mixed emotions against playing against his former players.
“I don’t know,” he said. “When you love kids, you love kids. And I love those kids even though I don’t coach them anymore. And I love the kids that I coach now. I don’t know if that answers it.
“I love every kid at Raspberry Lane that I had the opportunity to work with and I love every kid at Benton High School that I’ve had the opportunity to work with. When you do this for a living it’s your passion.
“I wanted to win for the kids at Benton so that we could kind of get this thing rolling in the right way. And we just came up short so I’ e got to do better as a coach. I’ve got to lead them better and coach them better. And we’re going to go to work and try to do that.”
Benton visits Captain Shreve Friday night at Lee Hedges Stadium. The Gators (2-1, 2-0) defeated Natchitoches Central 42-36 Friday night.
NOTE: Stats have not been reported. This report will be updated when they are.