It was hyped as a battle between a Savannah private school powerhouse against the city's top public school program as Benedictine played host to Jenkins in a Region 1-5A matchup at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Oct. 9.
The game lived up to its billing in a fight that went to the final whistle as Benedictine was able to hold off a determined Jenkins squad and edge the Warriors 37-35.
Jenkins started out the season with three straight losses against high-quality opponents in Lowndes, Calvary Day and Richmond Hill, but the Warriors were riding a three-game win streak with a reputation for their big-play ability.
The Warriors wasted no time showing off that aspect of their game as Kacey Holt picked off an Omari Burse pass and returned it 25 yards for
a score for the game's first score midway through the first quarter.
But Benedictine has some explosive playmakers of its own and the Cadets welcomed Eron Mallard back into the fray Friday after the senior missed last week's win over Evans with turf toe. The Purdue commit had another big-time performance that he started out with his first reception of the game ― a 48-yard touchdown reception from Burse that tied the game with 14 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Burse to Mallard connection was the difference in the game.
Mallard had six catches for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Burse was 10 of 16 passing for 232 yards with the three scores and a pair of interceptions, the other by Warrior senior Branden Brown.
Benedictine coach Danny Britt picked up his 201st career win with the victory, but he wasn't happy with his team's performance and told his squad that they have a lot to work on going forward.
"First of all, I want to give credit to Jenkins ― Coach Welch is a great coach and has a great program with some excellent players," Britt said. "If we had won 37-35 and played like we wanted to play, I would have been happy as a clam. But we played sloppy, we couldn't tackle and couldn't cover and couldn't block. Thank God we had Eron back with him and Omari connecting, that helped us win. We need to get back to being a fundamental football team."
BC's running back Stanley Smart Jr. ran for 72 yards on 19 carries with a pair of touchdowns, his second put BC up 20-14 with 8:16 left in the third quarter.
But Jenkins never backed down. At the end of the first half, Torean Wilson hit Jaylon Elliott for a 40-yard scoring pass and then Wilson was on the verge of scoring again in the third quarter, when he fumbled a ball at the goal line that his teammate Ronnie Taylor covered in the end zone for a touchdown as Jenkins went up 21-20.
Tasean Rhodes has been a big-play specialist all season for the Warriors and entered the game with three kickoff returns for touchdowns among his eight scores. He ran back a punt for a 75-yard score with 10:17 left that put Jenkins up 28-20.
But the Burse-Mallard connection couldn't be slowed down. Burse found Mallard down the left sideline and the athletic senior did the rest ― breaking several tackles for a 49-yard score down the left sideline, with Smart Jr. running in a two-point conversion as BC tied things up at 28 with 8:36 left.
Jenkins lost a fumble on the ensuing kickoff with Nick Jackson recovering and Burse found Mallard in the back of the end zone on the next play for a 14-yard touchdown.
Jenkins had an 85-yard scoring run by Elliott called back for block in the back and two plays later a wayward snap over the quarterback's head resulted in a safety as BC went up 37-28.
Rhodes had a touchdown pass called back when he crossed the line of scrimmage before his pass, but the Warriors stayed in it and Rhodes connected with Jayden Hooper for an 18-yard touchdown with 20 seconds remaining, but BC recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock to win.
Rhodes rushed for 70 yards on 15 carries, had the 75-yard punt return and threw the late scoring pass in a display of the junior's athleticism and versatility. Elliott had 56 yards on six carries and Wilson rushed for 47 yards on 10 attempts, while completing 4 of 6 passes for 51 yards and the score.
Jenkins Coach Tony Welch, in his sixth season leading the program, said he was proud of how his players battled, but was not happy with the officiating.
"We played well, but we can't be the referees ― I don't know any other way to put it," Welch said. "If they didn't play such a big part in it, I think we would have won the game. I can't sugarcoat it or dress it up ― they were terrible. Every big play we had, they called it back with a flag 20 yards behind the play. But we played hard, we played physical and we played well enough to win this game."
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: How Benedictine edged Jenkins in battle of Savannah football rivals
