Benicia High’s varsity football team found its legs Friday night in Fairfield and raced to its first win of the year.
The Panthers rushed for an astounding 373 yards on 60 carries and blew out the host Armijo Indians, 45-21. Benicia, which couldn’t run the ball at all in three losses to open the season, ran all over the city of Fairfield as 10 different ball-carriers plowed the Panthers to victory.
“Our game plan coming in was to try and get a little tougher up front and continue to develop our offense, and we controlled the line of scrimmage for the most part and did a good job,” said Benicia head coach Craig Holden. “The running game was there and we just continued to pound the ball.”
“We wanted to run the ball like crazy,” added senior center Steven Rohrer.
Benicia (1-3), which rushed for a total of 125 yards in its first three games combined, totaled 156 yards rushing in the first half alone against Armijo (2-2). Tristan Batten had nearly 100 yards rushing by halftime and finished with 141 yards and a touchdown. The Panther offense, which scored only five touchdowns through the first three games, had five TDs Friday night.
“We really didn’t want to go back to our house 0-4,” said senior Weston Carr, who intercepted two passes. “That would have been bad.”
Benicia dominated from the start. After the defense forced Armijo to punt, the offense went 53 yards in eight plays ending with a 25-yard TD strike over the middle from quarterback Riley Pitkin to Jason Shelley. It was the third straight game Benicia scored on its opening possession.
Carr then intercepted Indians quarterback Thomas Weisz and returned it to the Armijo 2. Benicia’s offense couldn’t punch it in, turning the ball over on downs at the 5, but the defense found its own way to score. Just before linebacker John Butler could sack Weisz in the end zone for a safety, Weisz threw wildly right to Benicia linebacker Tom Maday, who returned an interception three yards for a TD to make it 14-0.
Carr intercepted Weisz again in Benicia’s end zone on Armijo’s next possession, Benicia’s third interception of the half. The Panthers then stormed 80 yards on nine running plays, with Pitkin sneaking in from the 2-yard line to make it 21-0. Kyle Sinclair made it 24-0 with a 26-yard field goal just before halftime.
“We played really well in the first half,” Holden said.
The second half started where the first half left off. After nice runs by Batten and Alex Osterholt, Pitkin hit Shelley with a perfect pass down the right sideline for a 38-yard TD and a 31-0 lead. Batten and Osterholt would each add short touchdown runs later in the half to put the game away.
“Tristan is a heckuva runner and the other guys are great runners, too,” Holden said.
Up by 24 to start the fourth quarter, the Panthers got a look at their second unit. Kyle Hanson-Regalado played the entire quarter at quarterback and connected with Tyjon Casey for a 14-yard completion. Maday, Josiah Peterson, DeMarea Jackson, Armani Dickerson and Blake Pederson each got carries for the first time this season.
“We want our athletes to touch the ball and get into open space,” Holden said.
“It really came from practice,” Rohrer said. “You play how you practice and this past week was just amazing and it really showed on the field.”
Benicia’s defense was only burned three times. Armijo receiver Bryon Hill Jr. made a great leaping catch, slipped away from a defender and raced 80 yards for a touchdown early in the second half. Weisz found Jordan Allen for a 85-yard scoring pass and Daerion Spencer broke off a 59-yard touchdown run with 1:11 remaining.
The Panthers will try to put together a winning streak at home this Friday against the Arroyo Dons.
“We have one more game before we hit league and we just want to keep it going,” Rohrer said.
“I hope we build off this,” Carr said. “I think this will motivate us for the rest of the season.”
Benicia 45, Armijo 21
Benicia 14 10 14 7 – 45
Armijo 0 0 14 7 – 21
First Quarter
Ben – Shelley 25 pass from Pitkin (Sinclair kick), 4:55
Ben – Maday 3 interception return (Sinclair kick), 2:15
Second Quarter
Ben – Pitkin 1 run (Sinclair kick), 7:58
Ben – Sinclair 26 FG, 0:27
Third Quarter
Ben – Shelley 38 pass from Pitkin (Sinclair kick), 10:20
Arm – Hill 80 pass from Weisz (kick failed), 10:05
Ben – Batten 2 run (Sinclair kick), 0:41
Arm – Allen 85 pass from Weisz (Allen pass from Weisz), 0:11
Fourth Quarter
Ben – Osterholt 8 run (Sinclair kick), 8:14
Arm – Spencer 59 run (Weisz kick), 1:11
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Benicia Armijo
First downs 22 5
Rushes-yards 60-373 18-127
Passing yards 95 192
Comp-Att-Int 5-10-0 8-19-3
Total offense 468 319
Penalties-yards 10-100 9-55
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Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Benicia – Batten 21-141, Jackson 3-42, Maday 4-41, Peterson 7-41, Carr 4-39, Dickerson 4-23, Osterholt 5-23, Hutcherson 3-17, Pederson 1-6, Hanson-Regalado 1-1, Pitkin 7-minus 1; Armijo – Spencer 11-124, Scott 1-4, Murray 1-2, Weisz 4-1, Toney 1-minus 4.
PASSING: Benicia – Pitkin 4-8-0-81, Hanson-Regalado 1-2-0-14; Armijo – Weisz 8-19-3-192.
RECEIVING: Benicia – Shelley 2-63, Carr 1-17, Casey 1-14, Dickerson 1-1; Armijo – Hill 3-103, Allen 2-85, Spencer 2-1, Scott 1-3.
JV Score = Benicia 40, Armijo 0
Freshman Score = Benicia 40, Ygnacio 16