Coming off a 2-8 season in his first year as head coach, Benton’s Stephen Dennis said it was important for his Tigers to get off to a good start this season.
Benton did just that Friday night, defeating the Northwood Falcons 34-26 at Northwood’s Jerry Burton Memorial Stadium.
The Tigers avenged a 49-16 loss in their season opener at home last year. Benton didn’t get its first win last season until Week 5.
“It’s something that we had talked about all offseason,” Dennis said. “It’s changing the culture and starting to do things a certain way and these kids are bought into that and this was huge. It “It’s a good football program. I told them after the game, I said, ‘Guys, enjoy it tonight. You know, but if we don’t go 1 and 0 next week, then this doesn’t matter as much.’
“Just incredibly proud of the kids. The staff did a great job preparing them this week.”
Benton senior quarterback Malachi Ziegler, a three-year starter, passed for three touchdowns and ran for two.
“He completely took the game over,” Dennis said. “I’m so incredibly proud of him. Just the offensive line. I mean, just the whole team, it was a team win, you know?”
A few players suffered cramps, but Dennis thought his players handled the heat well overall.
“I thought our conditioning really was was one of the contributing factors to us coming away one and zero,” he said.
Benton hosts Booker T. Washington Friday. The Lions routed Arcadia 54-0 in their season opener.
Note: This report will be updated with stats when they are received.