Bennett – What could have been a considerably rougher ride for Roosevelt turned into a smooth victory thanks to a couple of mistakes by Bennett.
An uncovered receiver, a botched fourth-down play and a fumble in the end zone helped the Rough Riders to a 19-6 victory over Bennett in a cross-divisional opener between Patriot League teams Saturday on the Tigers’ field.
“Our first two touchdowns came on their mental mistakes,” Roosevelt coach Ed Eastin said.
Roosevelt gained 152 yards on the ground, including 66 yards from Mycal Holguin and another 59 from Wyland Rusk. Quarterback Steve Kielian completed 4-of-7 passes for 86 yards and a touchdown.
Bennett generated 195 yards of total offense, with senior running back Sam Taylor gaining 57 yards on 15 carries and quarterback Mike Siegman adding 30 yards on the ground and 55 through the air.
The Rough Riders opened the scoring when an uncovered Brent Treat hauled in a pass from Kielian along the right sideline and scooted in from 50 yards.
“I was waving my hand trying to get Stevie’s attention. I was jumping around in excitement, and I was lucky to not get a penalty,” said Treat, who brought in a running play from the sideline before realizing he was unnoticed by the defense.
The extra point failed and Bennett tied the game on the ensuing drive, with Shane Coalson diving into the end zone after grabbing a 9-yard pass from Siegman.
Bennett then handed Roosevelt a golden opportunity to score when a fumble set the Rough Riders up 8 yards out. But two holding calls pushed Roosevelt out of scoring range. The punt, however, pinned the Tigers on the 1-yard line.
A bad snap out of the shotgun on the first play ended up on the grass in the end zone, and Roosevelt linebacker Jon Widdifield jumped on the loose ball to give his team a 13-6 advantage.
“I was at the bottom of the pile and saw the ball laying there. I reached out and grabbed it and tried to keep anyone from stripping it away,” Widdifield said.
Bennett pieced together a nice drive in the final two minutes and looked to be on the verge of scoring. But with time winding down and no timeouts remaining, Siegman spiked the ball to stop the clock, not realizing it was fourth down.
“That was a misunderstanding between me and Coach,” Siegman said.
Despite the mistakes, Bennett remained in the game until the second half, when the scoreboard and Tigers simultaneously shut down.
On the first drive after halftime, Roosevelt drove down the field and Holguin converted a fourth-and-goal from the 3 with a sprint to the right pylon.
“We can’t make mistakes and give up big plays like that,” Bennett coach Daryl Beck said.
Roosevelt 6 7 6 0 – 19
Bennett 0 6 0 0 – 6
R – Treat 50 pass from Kielian (kick failed). B – Coalson 9 pass from Siegman (kick failed). R – Widdifield fumble recovery in the end zone (Wilson kick). R – Holguin 5 run (kick failed).
