On Aug. 30, Benson football had its season opener for the 25-26 season against Burke at home. The game was under a watchful eye by many, as Shaka Taylor’s first game as Head Coach, being a blackout game and a roster that has been practicing all summer, the expectations were higher than any other game in three years.
Starting off rough with a scoreless first quarter, a spark of hope was given via an interception by Senior Jermaine Samuel,
“It was light work, I was going to try and go for more(yardage),” Samuel said. “But my leg gave out.”
Benson did not score off the interception they stayed competitive, despite the significant discrepancy of reserves each team had.
“It’s exhausting, but we are trying our best out there” Senior Elijah Payne said. “It’s the trenches.”
Though down 26 by halftime, Coach Taylor delivered an inspiring speech to the team during the break.
“Get past that (exhaustion) now.” Taylor said. “We are fighting, it is not that were not trying, you are just tired, Last year we would have been running clock by now, come on y’all this is better than last year.
Coming out of the break rejuvenated the team, showing a considerable change in attitude and effort. Leading to two consecutive sacks via Junior Avant Vaughn
“I’m feeling great, I’m glad coach gave me a chance,” Vaughn Said. “Out of my three tackles this year, two are massive!”
This change led to a forced safety via Benson. On the resulting drive, an connection from quarterback junior D’onta Settles to sophomore Than Myint for a 69-yard touchdown.
“It might be 33-9, but there’s still time on the clock,” Junior Aiden Lopez said, “until the clock strikes zero it’s not over.”
Despite the loss, the effort and displays by the Bunnies showed a lot of promise for the future. Now preparing for Buena Vista in their next away game on Sept. 5, who also fell short in their opener 6-55 against Plattsmouth.
“When we score, we show people that we have turned up.” junior Scott McCormick said. People are going to want to come to Benson again.”
