Big plays, pass rush lift Benedictine to 2-0

Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes knows that if he can get the ball to Tyreek Hill in space, the speedy wide receiver is a threat to take it the distance every time.

Benedictine senior QB C.J. Yarboro is developing that type of connection with senior WR Brandon Boyd.

The duo connected twice for long-distance scores, and the Benedictine pass rush was overwhelming as the Bengals prevailed over visiting Toledo Central Catholic on Aug. 28 at Euclid, 24-14.

Yarboro found Boyd for a TD strike in the second overtime to beat Walsh Jesuit, 35-34, on Aug. 20.

Boyd caught five Yarboro aerials for 125 yards and two scores against the Fighting Irish to keep the early season heroics going.

“Two years ago, and last year, we were both backups,” Yarboro said. “So we had to go with the ‘2s’, and we had to learn to work together. Over time, you see (the result) on Friday and Saturday nights.”

The last time Benedictine (2-0) saw Toledo Central Catholic was a OHSAA regional final in 2015 in which the Bengals fell in double overtime, 31-30.

The Fighting Irish appeared poised to evoke those difficult memories when they took the opening drive 53 yards in 11 plays and scored on a 1-yard run by junior QB Ty’Waun Clark for a 7-0 lead.

Benedictine caught a break later in the frame when it forced a punt after a sack left Toledo C.C. in a fourth-and-20 situation at its own 16.

The punt was short, and a subsequent personal foul penalty gave the Bengals a first down at the Irish 22.

Benedictine cashed in five plays later on a 2-yard Duane Jackson scoring plunge. Yarboro passed for 15 yards to Terrell Grier on 4th and 5 from the 17 to set up the score.

The fierce Bengals pass rush and Central Catholic’s proclivity to commit penalties led to four consecutive punts for the Irish the rest of the half.

“We kind of just keyed on the quarterback, we knew he was left-handed,” explained Toledo-bound senior linebacker Darrell Bedingfield. “We played to his weakness, which was his right.

“So if the running back flared out, then one person’s got the running back and one person’s got the quarterback, and let’s rock.”

A lengthy Benedictine drive culminated in a 25yard Christian Cora field goal in the second quarter to give the Bengals a 10-7 lead.

After an Irish punt with 52 seconds left in the half gave the Bengals the ball near midfield and an illegal procedure penalty pushed them back five yards, Yarboro and Boyd wasted no time getting to work.

Yarboro threw to Boyd over a defender along the left sideline, and Boyd made one defender miss before turning on the jets and outracing two others to the end zone to complete a 54-yard TD play and give Benedictine a 17-7 halftime lead.

“A huge weapon,” Benedictine coach Jarritt Goode said of Boyd’s emergence. “A huge weapon. A guy that has that type of speed is always going to attract attention. He helps in other areas even when he doesn’t have the ball, because he always has to be accounted for.”

The Bengals drove 94 yards to score in the third quarter, keyed by a 32-yard Jackson run and finished off with a 34-yard strike from Yarboro to Boyd that reminded observers of the winning score against Walsh Jesuit the previous week.

Toledo CC answered with a 73-yard drive capped off by a 8-yard scoring toss in the corner of the end zone from Clark to 6-foot-6 Sam Lee.

Neither team threatened in the final frame, and the Benedictine defense kept the Irish bottled up on their side of the 50.

“They made us one-dimensional, and when you do that you’re able to tee off,” Central Catholic coach Greg Dempsey said. “We started out good on the first drive and then kind of petered out from there.”

Benedictine will travel to Cleveland Central Catholic on Sept.3, hoping to keep its momentum going.

“Our guys work hard, and it’s not a surprise to us,” Goode said of the 2-0 start. “Our guys have been dedicated since we lost in last year’s playoffs. We didn’t like the taste of that, and we’ve worked at getting better. It’s shown these first two weeks.”