Benford has big hand in Villanova’s first spring football win

Villanova’s Christian Benford showed that spring football can be just as exciting as its fall counterpart.

The junior cornerback had an interception to kill a potential scoring drive and then recovered an onside kick with 2:45 to play in the game to preserve the Wildcats’ 16-13 seasonopening victory over Stony Brook Saturday.

The Seawolves were left with just one timeout after challenging the spot on the on-side kick recovery. The sixth-ranked Wildcats were able to run out the clock.

Benford’s pick, the seventh of his career, came in the first quarter with the Wildcats nursing a

6-0 lead and Stony Brook on the march. Benford stepped in front of a Tyquell Fields pass at the Villanova 7-yard line to end the threat and keep the Wildcats in front. Villanova went on to take a

13-0 halftime lead.

Wide receiver Rayjoun

Pringle had a lot to do with that. The 5-9, 170-pound sophomore had eight receptions for 133 yards and a touchdown. He pulled in a 49-yard scoring strike from quarterback Daniel Smith with 6:00 left in the first half to give the Wildcats that 13-0 advantage.

Smith had a strong day, too. He completed 17 of

32 passes for 253 yards. DeeWil Barlee (Episcopal Academy All-Delco) paced a balanced rushing attack with 55 yards on 11 carries. Jalen Jackson scored on a one-yard run to get Villanova on the board.

Kicker Cole Bunce, a gradute transfer from TCU, booted a 38-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to extend Villanova’s lead to 167. Jayden Cook’s two-yard scoring run with 2:49 left got the Seawolves within

16-13 but it was as close at Stony Brook would get. Benford recovered the onside kick and Villanova ran out the clock with the help of an unnecessary roughness penalty against the Seawolves.