A Look back at Benedict College Great Season
The South Carolina Football Hall of Fame (SCFHOF) has announced the 10 Finalists that will determine the 2022 Blanchard-Rogers Trophy winner to be honored at the 10th Annual Enshrinement Ceremony on April 21, 2023, at the Hilton Greenville. The Blanchard-Rogers trophy honors South Carolina’s most outstanding college football player (or SC’s Heisman) for the 2022 season.
Each finalist was either born, grew up or played at one of the state’s high school and/or college football programs in the state of South Carolina.
Voting is completed online at scfootballhof.org and open to everyone who would like to participate. The voting period runs through January 10, 2023, and provides SCFHOF members, football fans, and media outlets an opportunity to provide a singular vote to help determine the 2022 Blanchard-Rogers Trophy winner.
The Blanchard-Rogers Trophy is named after Heisman Trophy winners Felix “Doc” Blanchard (McColl,SC/Army/1945) and George Rogers (USC/1980). The trophy has been used to honor the South Carolina Collegiate Player of the Year since the 2016 season. The player of the year award has been given out by the SCFHOF annually since the 2013 season.
2022 Blanchard-Rogers Trophy Finalists (Alphabetical):
• Mario Anderson (RB/Summerville, SC/Newberry College)
• Loobert Denelus (DE/Benedict College)
• Sam Hartman (QB/Oceanside Collegiate/Wake Forest)
• Jalin Hyatt (WR/Irmo, SC/Tennessee)
• Grayson McCall (QB/Coastal Carolina)
• Ryan Miller (TE/Furman University)
• Will Shipley (RB/Clemson)
• Tre Stewart (RB/Limestone University)
• Antwane Wells Jr. (WR/South Carolina)
• Dorian Williams (LB/Indian Land, SC/Tulane)
The post-season awards continue to roll in for the Benedict College football program, this time for academic success.
The Tigers placed five players on the 2022 Division II Academic All-District® Team, as selected by College Sports Communicators.
Ja'ron Kilpatrick and Mitchell Romig were named to the Academic All-District® team for the second year in a row. Joining them this year are Loobert Denelus, Dylan Geese and Ja'Varrius Wilson.
Kilpatrick, a junior defensive back, has a 3.84 GPA as a sport management major. He was named a national semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy, presented by the National Football Foundation, and received the SIAC Elite 14 Award, presented to the student-athlete participating in the conference championship with the highest GPA.
Romig is a junior offensive lineman with a 3.61 GPA as a business administration major with a concentration in marketing. Romig is the starting center for an offensive line that paves the way for an offense that averages 395.5 yards per game.
Denelus is a junior defensive lineman with a 3.92 GPA as a psychology major. Denelus was named the SIAC Defensive Player of the Year and leads Division II in sacks per game.
Geese is a sophomore long snapper with a 3.56 GPA as a sport management major.
Wilson is a sophomore linebacker with a 3.74 GPA as a business administration major. He had 16 tackles with one tackle for loss to go along with two pass breakups.
Benedict College was the only member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with any representatives on the Academic All-District® team, and one of three Division II HBCU schools with representatives. Chowan from the CIAA had three representatives, while Winston-Salem State had two representatives.
BC Team & trophy
Benedict College football teams celebrates winning SIAC Championship
Dr. Artis, Coach & trophy
Surrounded by football team members, Benedict College President Dr. Roslyn Clark-Artis and head football coach Chennis Berry proudly display Benedict’s first ever SIAC Football Championshp trophy. The Tigers won the title on Saturday with their 58-21 victory over the Tuskegee Golden Tigers at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium.
The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) enters into the second year of its relationship with ESPN that will feature 22 football games this fall aired exclusively across ESPN platforms, including ESPNU, ESPN3, and ESPN+.
The Benedict College Tigers will appear on ESPNU on Thursday, Sept. 15 when they host Savannah State. Benedict will also appear on ESPN+ on Nov. 5 when they play at rival Allen University.
Every week, from September 4th to November 12th, will feature a SIAC matchup.
Two SIAC games will air live on ESPNU this season. One of those games will be the Boeing Red Tails Classic, which will take place on September 4th at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala. between Tuskegee University and Fort Valley State University. The second game, featured on the ESPNU platform, will be a Thursday night matchup between Savannah State University and Benedict College on September 15th.
ESPNU reaches approximately 51 million television households in the United States. It is available on many satellite and cable services, such as Dish (channel 141); DirecTV (channel 208); AT&T U-Verse (Channel 605); Benedict College (Channel 30); as well as streaming services Hulu (channel 34); YouTube (channel 117); and SlingTV (channel 44), as well as ESPN streaming services.
The reigning SIAC champions, Albany State Golden Rams, will be featured five times on the streaming schedule with two road games, two home games, and their annual appearance in the Fountain City Classic.
New SIAC members Allen University and Edward Waters University see their air time increase significantly this year with five total appearances, including their end-of-the-season rivalry in the A.M.E. Classic on November 12th.
Rivalries continue to be the highlight of this year's schedule. A week prior to the conference championship, five of the SIAC's biggest rivalries will be aired during Week 10 including Miles College versus Tuskegee University, Benedict College versus Allen University, the Battle of the AUC between Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College, Central State University versus Kentucky State University, and the conference's largest rivalry the Fountain City Classic in Columbus, Georgia between Albany State University and Fort Valley State University.
The season will conclude with the SIAC Football Championship presented by Cricket on November 12th and will be hosted by the East Division champion. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and re-aired on ESPNU the following Sunday.
As featured on
The Benedict Tigers finished the inaugural HBCU Division II Coaches Poll powered by BOXTOROW…
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