Bentley, Crumedy pack quite a 1-2 punch
It didn’t matter that Clear Brook put eight men in the box for most of the game because the Wolverines were no match for the C.E. King tandem of quarterback Ulysses Bentley and fullback Roderick Crumedy.
Bentley rushed for 292 yards and five touchdowns, and Crumedy added 271 yards and three more scores as the Panthers cruised to a 56-35 victory Friday night at Challenger Columbia Stadium.
C.E. King totaled 604 yards on the ground as Bentley was all but unstoppable. In addition to his five scoring runs, Bentley also had two other rushing TDs that covered 93 yards nullified.
“It’s just practice — coach makes us work over and over again,” said Bentley, an SMU commitment. “They were all playing inside, so once I faked the ball to the fullback, I could easily pull it and take it outside.
“Roderick makes my job a lot easier. When I don’t give it to him, he blocks for me, and when I do give it to him, he runs over people. I trust him because I know he’s going to score.”
Leading just 35-28 at halftime, the Panthers (3-0) began taking control of the game when Crumedy bolted 75 yards up the middle on the first play of the third quarter for a 42-28 cushion.
After Clear Brook (1-3) closed to within 42-35, C.E. King responded with a 20yard touchdown run from the elusive Bentley and later stretched the advantage to 56-35 with another score with 10:18 remaining in the game.
Bentley was a one-man wrecking crew in the first half, rushing 15 times for 204 yards and four touchdowns as the Panthers led 35-28 at intermission. He scored on runs of 49, 2, 53 and 14 yards, while Crumedy carried 12 times for 125 yards and one touchdown.
The Wolverines countered with touchdown runs of 4 and 1 yards from Michael Norris, and Tyler Swanagan caught a 58-yard scoring pass from quarterback La’Darrion Florez that tied the game at 21.
Clear Brook tied the game again at 28 on a 2-yard run by Florez with 2:31 left in the first half, but Bentley’s fourth scoring run gave C.E. King a sevenpoint halftime lead.
The Panthers rolled up 357 yards in the first half when Bentley also had a 78yard touchdown run and a 50-yard scoring pass to Katrevion Smith negated by penalties.
“They’re an extremely athletic group of guys,” Clear Brook coach Lupe Florez said of the Panthers. “We worked on the veer all week, and they came out and ran something different on us.
“It’s one of those things where we go back to work and figure out what we need to do for next week. The good thing is that this is a non-district ballgame, and it doesn’t count (in the district standings). Our kids fought, and the coaches coached their tails off.
“C.E. King just came out the better ballclub tonight.”
Bentley hopes his team’s impressive play continues into district play.
“I feel like we’re playing pretty good, but we can play better,” Bentley said. “Our confidence is very high. This is our first time going 3-0, so we’re doing pretty good.”