Benson’s greatness will be long remembered
Former Midland Lee and Texas star was the embodiment of a power running back.
The state’s top high school football player resides in the Houston area and is a running back, which should surprise some.
This era of spread offenses and gaudy numbers has largely changed the narrative on the importance of a great tailback like North Shore’s Zach Evans, who has a chance to join Adrian Peterson (2004), Joe McKnight (2007) and Leonard Fournette (2014) as the only running backs to be ranked No. 1 overall nationally in their respective recruiting classes.
It wasn’t like that when Cedric Benson, a Class of 2001 product, was tearing into opposing defenses at Midland Lee. In those days, power backs were a little more respected and a lot more appreciated.
Benson’s death earlier this week hits hard for those who knew him and appreciated watching him in the high school realm.
The former University of Texas star and NFL back was killed Sunday in a motorcycle accident in Austin. There was a candlelight vigil for Benson, who was 36, in that city Thursday.
The high school numbers are impressive: 8,423 career rushing yards, then a Texas record for Class 5A, which was the state’s largest classification at the time. Throw in consecutive state titles in 1998, 1999 and 2000, with a total of 15 touchdowns scored by Benson in the three championship games.
The numbers don’t tell the entire story of his greatness, though. Benson is remembered fondly for being in a class of his own under the Friday night lights in an era of the game that seems forgotten.
“He was their guy,” Oak Ridge football coach Mark Schmid said. “I think he carried the ball close to 30 times, and they threw screen passes to him. They made no bones about it where they were going with the football.”
Schmid was an offensive coordinator for The Woodlands in 2000 when his team faced Lee in a Class 5A Division I semifinal. Spurred by Benson, then a senior, the Rebels won 13-3 on the way to theirthird consecutive championship.
Schmid notes that was just before spread offenses took a stronger hold on the game, at least at the high school level, ushered in by quarterback Graham Harrell at Ennis and Todd Dodge’s Southlake Carroll teams, among others.
Benson accentuated an era when power backs were featured heavily. Schmid was on the offensive side of the ball at the time but remembers how stout The Woodlands’ defense was that year and how Benson still found a way to wear it down.
“The longer the game went, the better he got,” Schmid said. “At first, it was a couple of yards. The third quarter, it became 3 to 4 yards, and in the fourth quarter it became 7 to 8 yards. He was able to just continue to wear on you.”
Lee’s other brush with the Houston area during the Benson era was in 1999’s Class 5A Division I final. Richard Carson was in his second year as Eisenhower’s coach. Lee won 42-21.
“Everything you see and hear about him is true,” said Carson, who added that while the game has changed, there are still plenty of programs that value running the ball, such as Katy.
Imagine Benson in the era of social media, when his star could have been even bigger and brighter. But Carson and Schmid insist that just because Benson’s playing days preceded Twitter and Instagram doesn’t mean he wasn’t seen or known.
Carson recalled watching statewide high school football highlight shows — which he labeled the social media of the time — and seeing Benson. It wasn’t difficult to find Benson in the newspaper or Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine, either, Schmid said.
If you followed the game, you knew. Even if Benson played in West Texas.
Carson and Schmid were saddened by Benson’s death. Even if it was strictly football-related, they nonetheless felt a connection to the beloved running back.
Carson expanded on that, noting that one of the ESPN highlights of Benson after his death included footage from Eisenhower’s championship game against Lee. He said those highlights were mostly Benson running through Eisenhower like he did other teams, but they still brought back fond memories.
“As you get older, you start realizing life is fragile,” Carson said. “We’re not in control of a lot of things. I hated it for him and for his family. It made you sad because we’re connected.”