Benedict football ranked in Division II Top 25 for first time in program history

Lou Bezjak
Joshua Boucher/jboucher@thestate.com

Benedict College football will play one of its biggest games of the season this Saturday as a ranked team for the first time in school history.

The Tigers are No. 23 in the latest Division II coaches poll released Monday. Benedict also is ranked No. 23 in the D2Football.com poll.

Benedict will travel to face conference rival and No. 21 Albany State on Saturday.

“To God be the Glory! I’m extremely proud of our football program of being nationally recognized by our peers as one of the top programs in all of Division Two football,” Benedict coach Chennis Berry said in a school statement. “Congratulations to my staff and my players for their hard work, but there’s still unfinished business and a lot of work to be done, but I’m extremely grateful to be recognized.”

Benedict (6-0) is coming off a 20-3 over Miles College on Saturday.

The Tigers have used a stingy defense in helping them to their unbeaten start. Benedict is giving up just 8.3 points a game, which is second best in all of Division II, and has allowed just seven touchdowns all season.

“Our goal has always been to be in the top 10 percent of defenses in the country,” defense coordinator Jordan Odaffer told The State recently. “We set high goals hoping we meet them. But, if you don’t meet them, you’re still better off than you were before. I just want to have a meeting saying, ‘Guys, we played great and reached 10 out of 10 of our goals.’

“We set extremely high goals. We set high goals last season. The expectation and the standard doesn’t change. The standard is our best.”

On offense, Benedict is averaging 33.3 points a game, 15-point improvement over last season.

AFCA Division II Top 25

Rank/School (1st votes) Rec.

  • 1. Ferris St. (Mich.) (28) 5-0

  • 2. Grand Valley St. (Mich.) (2) 6-0

  • 3. Angelo St. (Tex.) 6-0

  • 4. Shepherd (W.Va.) 6-0

  • 5. Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) 6-0

  • 6. Ashland (Ohio) 5-0

  • 7. Pittsburg St. (Kan.) 6-0

  • 8. Indianapolis (Ind.) 5-0

  • 9. West Florida 4-1

  • 10. Delta St. (Miss.) 6-0

  • 11. Virginia Union 6-0

  • 12. Harding (Ark.) 5-1

  • 13. Lenoir-Rhyne (NC) 5-1

  • 14. Sioux Falls (SD) 6-0

  • 15. Indiana (Pa.) 5-0

  • 16. Northwest Missouri St. 4-2

  • 17. Newberry (SC) 5-1

  • 18. Slippery Rock (Pa.) 5-1

  • 19. Colorado School of Mines 4-2

  • 20. Texas A&M-Kingsville 6-0

  • 21. Albany St. (Ga.) 5-1

  • 22. Nebraska-Kearney 5-1

  • 23. Benedict (SC) 6-0

  • 24. Augustana (SD) 5-1

  • 25. West Georgia 3-2

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