Pickin' Splinters

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Bennett leaves no doubt in victory over McQuaid

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By PAUL GOTHAM

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. — Glancing quickly at the statistics of the Bennett High (VI) football team, one might think the Tigers’ offense is methodical by nature.

Entering Tuesday’s NYS Class AA Regional matchup, Bennett had averaged better than 370 of its 449 total yards per game on the ground.

The Tigers showed their ability to strike quickly against Section V champ, McQuaid Jesuit.

Dominac Allen scored a pair of touchdowns as Bennett raced to a sizable lead on its way to a 26-14 victory over McQuaid Jesuit.

“When you get to this point in the season, you know everybody’s good,” McQuaid head coach Bobby Bates said. “They wouldn’t be where they are if they’re not good. That’s a talented team and personally a team I think one that can win the whole thing.”

Bennett quarterback Antonio Davis connected with Jayden Lewis on a 53-yard touchdown for the first score of the game with 1:24 remaining in the first quarter. After recovering a fumble on McQuaid’s next possession, Allen rumbled 74 yards for a touchdown and 14-0 Bennett lead.

“When they play like that, their talent is able to show,” head coach Steve McDuffie said. “It started off with them being very disciplined, handling their assignments and us being able to put our cleats in the ground and playing football.”

McQuaid started its next possession near midfield, and a Sean Oberlies run set up the Jesuit Knights at the Bennett 30-yard line. The Tigers defense, though, stopped McQuaid on fourth down.

Seven plays later, Jamario Toliver broke off a 35-yard run along the left sideline to put the Tigers at McQuaid’s nine-yard line. Allen scored on the next play for a 20-0 Bennett lead heading into halftime.

“They run the ball extremely well, and they play phenomenal defense,” Bates noted. “That wins you championships, right? There’s no science to football, but that wins you championships.”

McQuaid went into halftime with as many first downs (eight) as Bennett. After being held to a three-and-out on the game’s first possession, the Jesuit Knights used a nine-play drive to get the ball into the red zone. John Mahar hit Joey Leuzzi on a 24-yard reception and a first down at the Bennett nine-yard line. The Tigers stopped McQuaid on the next three plays, and the Jesuit Knights missed a field goal attempt.

McQuaid’s next drive started at its own 47. A trio of carries from Oberlies and an offsides penalty had the Jesuit Knights on the Bennett 30. A fumbled lateral stalled the drive at the 35, and Allen scored his first touchdown two plays later.

It looked like the Jesuit Knights could swing the momentum when they recovered a fumble at the Bennett 44 on the first possession of the second half.

Four plays later, Lewis intercepted a pass and ran it 64 yards for a touchdown and a 26-0 Bennett lead.

“There is a lot for these kids to hold their high about,” Bates said of his team. “They battled through adversity after adversity after adversity all year long.

“This was an unconventional week for us, and I’m so proud of the guys in that locker room because we asked them as a school and as an administration to battle through some more adversity.”

McQuaid entered the contest scoring nearly 34 points per game. Bennett held the Jesuit Knights scoreless for the first 45 minutes of Tuesday’s matchup.

“I thought we had a pretty solid game plan,” McDuffie said. “I thought the kids did a really good job during the week of preparing and practicing. The kids did a good job of handling their responsibilities and playing disciplined football and being where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there.”

Mahar connected with Anthony Dimarco on a 15-yard reception to get McQuaid on the scoreboard with 2:58 remaining in the game. Two minutes later, Mahar hit Parris Smiley in the back of the end zone for the final score of the game.

“We worked all week on funneling and staying over top and taking away the quick throws,” McDuffie explained. “We thought we had a defensive line mismatch and if we could take away the quick throws it would give our defensive line an opportunity to be able to make plays. We were right about that.”

The regional championship was the first in Bennett program history. Bennett won the 2016 Section VI Class A title but fell in the state quarter-finals to Greece Athena. Bennett knocked off five-time Section VI champ, Lancaster, to win its second title since 1979. The Tigers will face Cicero-North Syracuse (III) in a de facto home game for the North Stars which will host Saturday’s NYS semifinal at 6 p.m.

“A lot of these young men stood up today and they played really hard,” McDuffie said of his team’s ability to withstand its own adversity. “I’m really proud of them because of that. What they discovered about themselves is they are incredibly tough, mentally.”

Last May, the Tigers’ season ended with a forfeit in sectionals due to Covid-19 protocols. With Tuesday’s win, McDuffie’s squad improved to 10 wins and 1 loss on the season.

“I’ve always said I’m about a village approach,” McDuffie stated. “This program is just not about Bennett; It’s about the city of Buffalo. It’s about the Buffalo public schools. For the kids to go out and perform the way they did today, I was really, really proud of them.”

Allen came into game having rushed for 1,954 yards and 20 touchdowns on 151 carries.

Lewis had nine interceptions entering play. Tuesday’s pick-6 was his seventh defensive touchdown of the season.

McQuaid ended its season with 9 wins and 2 losses.

“The kids did a tremendous job, man,” Bates said. “It’s been a great year to be Section V champs three times in a row now. There is a lot for these kids to hold their high about.”

Originally scheduled to be played on Saturday, the game was postponed to Tuesday due to implications of positive Covid-19 tests in the McQuaid program. A New York State Supreme Court ruling was needed for the contest to take place.

“They did the right thing,” Bates said of his team. “In life, it’s important to do the right thing, and I think that’s what we taught our kids this week. No matter what the outcome is, it’s always important to do the right thing.”

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