Bennett at Lancaster Football Preview

Two teams with high hopes of taking the Class AA crown square off tonight at Lancaster High School.

The Bennett Tigers take it on the road with a tough Week 1 match-up with the Legends. The Tigers have made yet another jump in Class, joining AA this year.

Bennett is coming off another highly successful season under the guidance of head coach Steve McDuffie. The Tigers won the Class A Sectional Title in 2016, but they graduated almost two dozen players from that roster, including Connolly Cup winner Isaiah McDuffie.

Returning is defensive standout Brandon Barksdale who specializes in slowing down high-powered offenses, such as Lancaster. Offensively the Tigers will be looking for some special underclassmen to step up. Jeremiah Caddele is a freshman wide receiver with size and skill. Aaron Smith a junior will start at QB. He’ll have senior center Zwanie Wright for protection and he will need it as Smith is a QB that can run effectively.

Lancaster is flooded with talent and will certainly be a tough test for Bennett. Eric Rupp returns for a 2nd season as head coach after leading the Legends to their first sectional title in almost 20 years. Joe Andreesen might be the best middle linebacker in the Section. Along with Ben Damiani and Max Giordano (2016 1st Team All-WNY) the Legends have enough playmakers on defense to give the opposition fits.

Offensively, Giordano, Ryan Mansell and Andrew Hersey will keep opposing DC’s up at night.

Friday is the first game of the season and both teams want to make a good showing. Lancaster has the edge in experience but we will need to wait until tonight to see how that factors into this heavyweight battle at Foyle-Kling Field under the lights.