Benet's struggles against Oswego persist

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LISLE -- For much of Friday night's 32-7 loss to Oswego, the Benet defense was along for the ride. The rest of the time the Redwings were getting run over.

Benet coach Gary Goforth said his team failed to compete. He said his players weren't physical enough to deal with Oswego, which gave the Redwings a heavy dose of running back Tim Riley and complementary course of stifling defense.

"It's going to come down to, if you're in a fight and you put your hands up like this and catch the punches, you're going to lose the fight," Goforth said. "And we caught the punches. And we lost the fight. That's probably the best way to say it. We caught the punches and we need to deliver the punches."

The first body blow was a three-and-out in their first offensive series that featured three incomplete passes. The next punch was a haymaker as Riley went off-tackle and up the right sideline for a 68-yard touchdown on Oswego's first offensive play.

"Adam (Brooking) had a great block on the outside, and I saw the sideline and I just went," Riley said. "It turned out really well. It's a great feeling on the first play to get a nice long touchdown. It's always crucial to score first."

The Northwestern recruit finished with 211 yards on 22 carries and four touchdowns.

Benet was staggering when quarterback Jimmy Riley threw an interception on his team's next play. Two fourth-down conversions later, Oswego turned the short field into the second of Riley's four scores.

"I don't think we could script it any better," Oswego coach Dave Keely said. "Not at all."

Oswego beat Benet 40-0 to start last season and won 31-12 in 2006. The Panthers got out to a 32-0 lead Friday before Jimmy Riley scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter to prevent the shutout.

Goforth criticized his team's lack of engagement at the point of attack. The rushing yards told the tale. Oswego racked up 284 yards. Benet had 39, and it took 34 carries to get there.

Benet's passing attack wasn't much better. Riley's first three passes were incomplete and the fourth landed in the hands of Panthers defensive back Josh Wagner. Riley didn't complete a pass until Oswego had a 20-0 lead in the second quarter, and that completion went for 2 yards on third-and-9.

Oswego held the Redwings to 10 total yards in the first quarter on 12 plays. The Panthers didn't allow a first down until Benet's third drive, but that drive also stalled following Ryan Brustasori's sack of Riley that put Benet in a third-and-long that ended in an incompletion. Oswego's defense limited Benet to 40 total yards in the first half and 119 for the game.

"I like playing a hard physical team the first game," Goforth said. "I think you find out more about your own team than playing this team than playing a patsy."

Riley completed seven of 19 passes for 81 yards with one interception. He did make some nice passes on Benet's scoring drive.

He found Neil Onstrander for 26 yards to begin the drive, delivered an arching strike to Mike Cunningham for 28 yards on third-and-22 and converted a fourth-and-8 with an 8-yard pass to Phillip Schmidt.