Landin Benson, Coal City power past Streator 55-6

COAL CITY – The Coal City defense didn’t have an easy time stopping the Christian Benning-led Streator offense early in Friday’s Illinois Central Eight Conference opener.

The Bulldogs, however, had absolutely no luck stopping Landin Benson and the host Coalers.

Benson rushed for 154 yards and three touchdowns, threw a 60-yard touchdown on a halfback option pass and kicked seven extra points for icing on the cake in Coal City’s 55-6, ICE victory at the Dzuris Athletic Complex.

“We just keep it rolling,” Benson said. “They couldn’t really stop us. We just kept mixing up the plays, and they didn’t know what was coming.”

Streator (1-2 overall, 0-1 ICE) converted nine first downs and scored on a Benning-to-Matt Williamson, 5-yard touchdown early in the second quarter before Benning was forced out of the game with a right shoulder injury. Up to that point, the Streator senior had rushed for 42 yards on 14 carries and completed 8 of 11 passes for 78 yards.

He remained on the Bulldogs sideline, but did not return to the field.

“We’re going to go back and look at it, and then we’ll get a better assessment of it,” Bulldogs coach Kyle Tutt said after the game. “But we’re going to do our best to keep him healthy and make sure he’s 100%.”

Streator managed only two more first downs without Benning, as backup QB Isaiah Weibel (2 for 9, 14 yards, two interceptions) took over. Matt Williamson had five receptions for 47 yards on the night. The Bulldogs, already behind 20-6 when Benning was forced out, could not keep up with Benson and the Coalers (2-1, 1-0).

“[Streator is] a very good offense,” Coal City coach Francis Loughran said, “and they came out and gave us a little bit of trouble. We had to make some adjustments, but credit to our guys, they stepped up. Holding them to six is a big deal, because Week 1 [against East Peoria] they threw up 74 points. ...

“Big night for Landin, and the thing about Landin is, even though he’s really talented, he’s an extremely hard worker. He holds himself to a high [standard], and nights like this, I’m happy for him. He puts in the time and effort. ... and getting him on track the last two games has been huge for us.”

In addition to Benson’s TD runs of 2, 6 and 12 yards, he tossed the 60-yard touchdown pass, his first, to a wide open Jim Feeney up the east sideline a play after Coal City took possession with an Austin Davy strip sack of Benning that Alec Waliczek recovered.

“I was excited [we called that],” Benson said. “I couldn’t really see over the corner, but I tossed it up and was praying that Jim would get it.”

Gabe McHugh (40-yard return of a blocked punt), Gavin Carpenter (44-yard run), QB Zander Meents (13-yard run) and Rey Gonzalez (27-yard pass from Meents in the closing seconds) accounted for Coal City’s other scores. The Coalers outgained Streator 340-154 in yards from scrimmage, including 232-62 on the ground.

“One of the things we came in with was being able to stop the run, but I thought [Coal City] established the run pretty well,” Tutt said. “They were able to throw early on, soften us up, and then they were able to run it. And then when you turn the ball over against a really good team, they’re going to capitalize on it, and they did a great job of doing that.”

McHugh also recorded two interceptions for the Coalers, while Tanner Phillips had two tackles for loss.

Streator defensive back Jai Andre Williams had three pass defenses, accounting for all three incompletions for Meents (3 for 6, 48 yards).

Coal City visits Lisle in Week 4, while Streator hosts Manteno.