What we know about Benjamin football heading into Week 1

PALM BEACH GARDENS — Benjamin narrowly pulled off a 20-18 win in Gator territory in Friday's preseason classic matchup.

"Benjamin, you left your game at home," a banner read across the visitors' bleachers.

Admittedly, in the first half, it looked like it. But in the weeks leading up, from summer practice to fall camp, the Buccaneers looked fit for another run to regionals – or further.

Struggling to move chains against Palm Beach Gardens' defense, mustering gains of just about six yards and typically nothing more, Benjamin was a little unrecognizable compared to the team that hung 40 unanswered points on Clewiston in the spring.

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Here are three takeaways from the season's inaugural thriller:

Star-studded starters secure the win

Junior running back Chauncey Bowens delivered after a shifty breakaway from the Gators' line to open up the third quarter.

"I think every coach wishes they had a guy like Chauncey," Kresser said. "In my mind, he's a five-star prospect. He'll probably be able to go to any college he wants so the expectations are high."

The Bucs could've cut the deficit to three, but the extra point attempt was blocked, leaving the scoreboard at 10-6.

Every Buccaneer score after that was pure luck.

A defensive stand held quarterbacks Patrick Downes of Benjamin and Brand Campbell of Palm Beach Gardens at bay until the fourth quarter. A jittery performance from Downes, who made his first varsity start of the year against the Gators, resulted in head coach Eric Kresser opting for athlete Jacob Cosby-Mosley to take the snap.

"Jacob is one of the best athletes in the county," Kresser said. "Guys like that, you just want to give them the chance to touch the ball."

It was Cosby-Mosley's first time t quarterback for Benjamin, too.

Originally, Cosby-Mosley was assigned to hand the ball off to Bowens, but a blitz in the A-gap left Bowens vulnerable and Cosby-Mosley in a pinch to make a decision.

"In practice we work on stuff and I have a lot of different reads and because I understand both the offense and the defense, it becomes normal," Cosby-Mosley said, calmly inheriting the pressure of saving the scoreboard for the Bucs.

Cosby-Mosley stiff armed the Gardens' outside linebacker, attracting a congregation of Gators, ducking them and throwing a flea flicker to UNC-Charlotte commit Darrell Sweeting at wideout.

The three-star Sweeting took it 76 yards to the house, securing Benjamin's first lead of the night.

"I saw green grass and when I get the ball in my hands, you can't catch me. That's it," Sweeting said.

Yet, Palm Beach Gardens running back Johnnari Rumph wasn't going to let Benjamin run away with the lead that the Gators essentially held without contest for the first half.

Thanks to a fumble recovered by Gardens' Joshua Bogg, the Gators had possession and Campbell handed the ball off to Rumph for a 10-yard push into the end zone. Rumph and Campbell then connected for a two-point conversion of about 15 yards.

"I scouted Gardens and I watched their film three or four times and I knew that it was going to be a tough game," Sweeting said, highlighting the Gators' spring jamboree win over Miami-Killian.

Alas, Cosby-Mosley and Sweeting's sweet execution earlier forced Benjamin's offense back on the field with a different energy – one that would bring home the win by whatever means necessary.

"I told them boys if we come out here and stick to the plan, we're going to win," Sweeting said.

Hopes high for Downes

Cosby-Mosley stayed in at quarterback for just one play, replacing Downes under center until about the three minute mark of the fourth quarter, when a flubbed sneak sent the American Heritage-Delray transfer to the ground and the ball out of his hands.

Bowens recovered the ball, his balance and breakaway speed leaving the Gators' defense defenseless. With 1:28 on the clock, 47 yards later, Bowens was crossing the goal line to tie the scoreboard at 18 in his second touchdown of the evening, raking over 200 yards against Gardens.

Reflecting on the Benjamin squad that dropped a region title by three points to Lakeland Christian last November, Bowens said he feels like himself and fellow returning Bucs have "matured" and "understand what we need to do to win."

"He's lucky Chauncey is the guy that ended up with the ball," Kresser said of Downes, who was trampled in the crossfire and ultimately helped off the field.

In turn, Cosby-Mosley was back in at quarterback. Also playing safety and receiver, Cosby-Mosley says he's "kind of just added quarterback to the list at this point."

"I kind of am just roaming around the whole field, but if need be, I know I can do it for sure," Cosby-Mosley said.

Even at fall camp, Cosby-Mosley said if he was needed at quarterback, he'd be ready.

"I take pride in learning everything so I have to do everything because that's what my team needs," Cosby-Mosley explained in early August, still maintaining Downes is capable of greatness.

"I always tell him to keep his head up because I know being a quarterback is such a mental thing," Cosby-Mosley said. "You have to be in the right headspace and understand everything so I try to encourage him a lot."

"I let him know, 'Hey guy, talk. You don't have time to feel a certain way when you have friends and teammates to talk to. We have each other. We're brotherhood," Cosby-Mosley continued.

Downes' first look in the orange was in the offseason versus Clewiston, chockfull of near-perfect pitches to Super 11 receiver Micah Mays. Between misfired throws and coverage from Gardens' Desean Butler, Mays didn't see the ball as much as usual Friday.

"We really rely on certain players to make big plays and sometimes we don't know how that's going to happen because we can't throw it up," Kresser said.

"Gardens is a different game than our spring game," Kresser said. "Sometimes, guys have just got to wake up and sometimes it's good for them to get hit real hard or make a bad play so they can wake up."

In his second varsity snap at quarterback, Cosby-Mosley scored again – a two-point conversion toss to Adam Balogoun-ali – clinching a 20-18 win with seconds on the clock.

The great unknown

Benjamin's coaching staff has sung the praises of Balogoun-ali since he chose to take his talents to the Bucs.

Balogoun-ali's 6-3, 210-pound build held up just fine against the Gators, whether serving the offense as a receiver or the defense at linebacker.

His debut included 10 tackles, plus two stops on fourth down.

Alas, learning a new position, Kresser doesn't think the young Balogoun-ali's "comfortable" just yet.

Despite their age difference, Downes a junior and Balogoun-ali a freshman, neither have played muchvarsity football, but Kresser knows both will get "better and better" as they gain more experience each week.

Similarly to Balogoun-ali and Downes, football fans only saw glimpses of what players like athlete Ricky Knight III, back from injury this fall, safety Trakwon Harris and end Sedrick Clarke can bring to the table. Let alone players like Jackson Brendise and Jay'vier Johnson who filled in at defensive end for Benjamin's 65-man roster, already feeling the impact of a lack of bodies.

"Going into the game I was concerned about depth, but we got a good test tonight," Kresser said, explaining Benjamin was making substitutions at linebacker and safety, too.

"We had some youth out there and they stepped up – and when I say youth I mean either like ninth or tenth graders or guys that just haven't played a lot and they did well," Kresser said.

Now having seen them in man-on-man action, Kresser and staff are "happy" to have more options than they originally thought.

Palm Beach County fans can expect to get a better feel of Benjamin when the Buccaneers host Week One opponent John Carroll Catholic next Thursday at 7 p.m.

Emilee Smarr is The Palm Beach Post's high school sports reporter. She can be reached at esmarr@gannett.com. 

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Benjamin football: What to expect from the Bucs in 2022