Benedict College was a heavy favorite heading into the SIAC Championship game and it certainly lived up to the hype. Benedict (11-0) easily won 47-10 on Saturday against Albany State (6-5) in Atlanta.
Albany State held pace with Benedict early holding the Tigers to just three points in the first quarter. In the second quarter Benedict executed a couple of explosive plays to ignite its offense. Aeneas Dennis found Caden High for a 28 yard score with 12:13 remaining in the second quarter for a 10-0 lead.
With 7:46 remaining Dennis connected with Reginald Harden for a 55 yard touchdown pass as BC pushed the lead to 17-0 on the extra point attempt. Albany State scored on a field goal with nine seconds remaining in the half to make it a 17-3 game just before the half.
Defense gets on the board
The dominant Benedict defense put some points on the board to start the third quarter. Jayden Broughton strip sacked ASU quarterback Jhaydon Sullivan at the Albany State two yard line. Loobert Denelus recovered the ball for a score and a 23-3 lead.
Dennis would show on the next offensive possession that he could get it done on the ground with a 72 yard rushing touchdown and Benedict pushed the lead to 30-3. Albany State answered with a scoring drive to trim the lead to 30-10 on a Dionte Bonneau five yard touchdown run.
But the BC defense wouldn’t allow any more points and the Tigers put up a field goal and two additional touchdowns in the fourth quarter for the 47-10 final.
Benedict finishes the regular season 11-0 with back to back SIAC Championships, and should head into the NCAA Division II playoffs as a No. 1 seed in its region. This will mark back to back playoff appearances for the Tigers. The Tigers were in the same position last season but ultimately lost to Wingate after an opening round bye.