The McEachern Indians used four touchdown runs by tailback Rajaan Bennett to defeat Brookwood 42-32 Saturday afternoon at the Corky Kell Classic in the Georgia Dome.
“Any ‘W’ in your first game no matter what is very important,” stated McEachern head coach Kyle Hockman. “In a setting like this it is awesome, against a great opponent. They’re going to win a heck of a lot of games.”
“Obviously, we’re very excited, but also we’ve got a lot of things to work on.”
The Indians, who are coming off a 5-5 season in Hockman’s first season at the school, took control from the opening kickoff, driving 74 yards for a touchdown on Bennett’s one yard plunge. McEachern would expand their lead to 33-6 with 6:09 left in the third quarter on a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Trent Thompson to wide out Amba Etta-Tawo.
Brookwood would fight back valiantly to eventually close the lead to 42-32 before time ran out. The Broncos could not solve the high-powered offense led by Bennett and Thompson. Bennett showed why dozens of Div 1 colleges have offered him a scholarship.
“He’s a heckuva player,” said Hockman. “It’s nice to be able to hand the ball off to (Bennett) when you’re not sure what to call. You just give it to No. 5 and you feel like a good coach.”
Brookwood will travel to North Gwinnett on Sept. 4 for their next contest while McEachern will host fellow Kell Classic victor Etowah in a Region 5-AAAAA contest.
Stephen Black can be reached at sblack@scoreatl.com.
Anybody at the Georgia Dome still unconvinced about McEachern running back Rajaan Bennett’s abilities like won’t be after today. The 5-foot-11, 210-pound Bennett is rated as a 4-star player by Rivals and has offers from Kentucky, Louisville, and Vanderbilt, and ran wild on the Brookwood defense with close to 200 yards rushing and 4 total touchdowns (3 rushing, 1 receiving). He displayed good speed for a big back on a 66-yard run down the left sideline and flashed a nice set of hands on his only receiving touchdown of the day.
McEachern was able to mix it up nicely on offense, as well, as Trent Thompson found Victor Brannon for a 29-yard score late in the 1st half on a beautiful throw down the sideline. Thompson later found Amba Etta-Tawo in the back of the end zone, fitting the ball over the head of two Bronco defenders. Etta-Tawo may or may not have been in bounds, but a beautiful throw none the less.
Brookwood, meanwhile, could be in for another average season. Mark Crews’ team finished 6-5 last season, mostly thanks to an anemic offense that averaged just 16 points per game. Injuries to top running backs Marvis Lane and Brice Smith didn’t help, either. The Bronco offense did look better today after putting up 32 on McEachern, but two of those scores came in the final minute with the game already locked up for the Indians. Running back Julian Suber, who left for Riverside Military Academy after his sophomore season and now returns for his senior year, should provide a big boost if today was any indication. He’s extremely quick and showed nice burst through the line.
A major concern has to be the defense for Brookwood. Only three starters return from last year’s defense—none of them on the defensive line. That inexperience showed today against Rajaan Bennett and a potent McEachern offense. The Broncos looked confused on multiple occasions, with players running on and off the field at the last second while committing several careless late-hit penalties.
Foster Lander can be reached at flander@scoreatl.com.
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