When Marcus Davidson was diagnosed in March with anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a rare cancer of the lymphatic system, the only thing he was worried about was how the chemotherapy treatments were going to affect his time coaching Columbus Christian Academy’s track team.
The cancer had made its way into the lymph nodes and even his bloodstream, making him feel physically weaker and tired more often, but none of that mattered. It was right in the middle of track season, and despite the diagnosis, he knew CCA had the potential to win it all. No matter how much he hurt or how badly he needed those treatments, those long and arduous days at the doctor’s office would have to take a back seat. His team needed his stern yet encouraging voice – and his guidance.
“We knew (the state championship) was ours to lose more or less, so we started pushing and working hard for it as soon as basketball season (finished),” Davidson said. … “When I was diagnosed, it was all she wrote.”
With Davidson back at the helm, opting to hold off his treatments until the day after meets, the Rams ran straight into the state meet and ran all the way out with the MAIS 2A state championship in May.
“When I heard about (the diagnosis), I was just feeling down,” said Imonn Hill, a member of the track team. “I said ‘We just have to do it for him. We have to win it all.’ I didn’t give up at all. I gave it all I can.”
And they are still not done giving their all for Davidson, who is now 1-0 against cancer.
Flash forward to football season, and the Rams haven’t stopped running. Guided by Davidson in his first year at the helm of the program, two of his track stars, seniors Matthew Benge and Hill, have turned the gridiron into a track meet, and they’ve set their sights on much more than their undefeated 7-0 start behind an offense that’s produced numbers seemingly pulled from a video game – not a small private school playing football in Steens.
Emboldened by Davidson’s “never quit” mentality and averaging 61 points and 382 rushing yards a game, they’re on the heels of chasing down the program’s first ever 8-man state championship and a long-lasting legacy of athletic excellence.
From track champs to football stars
Before Benge was averaging nearly 200 rushing yards per game, and before Hill was charting 15 yards per carry, they both were at different schools not seeing much playing time.
After a couple of years sitting on the sidelines at New Hope, Benge came to CCA two years ago with athletics in mind. Hill was in a similar boat but at a different school. He joined the Rams three years ago from Columbus and was actually talked into playing football by Davidson. The one thing they had in common is that they both weren’t that fast at the time.
“I was slow as a turtle my freshman and sophomore year,” Benge said. “I came over here and (Davidson) made me run track and I got progressively better.”
It took days and months of working through weight training and explosion drills and just plain old running to build up their speed, most of which occurred while the shouting and preaching of discipline and grit from Davidson echoed in the background.
“Most of it was getting my confidence from him. Once I got my confidence and he showed me how to be a man and be confident, it just took off,” Benge said.
At the state meet, Benge bronze-medaled in the 200-meter dash and took home fourth in the 100-meter race. Hill used his speed mainly in the relay races, helping the Rams win gold in the 4×800-meter race, but also placed seventh in long jump, something he never thought he would end up doing. He gave credit to his coach for guiding them to the mountain top.
“He pushes us to the limits,” he said.
After the celebration of winning the 2A track state championship, Davidson soon began scheming up a way to translate Hill’s and Benge’s speed to football and opened up the playbook and dusted off the old triple-option. With Benge at the helm under center, the system uses misdirection on handoffs to Hill, or fake gives where Benge keeps it and runs himself.
“Pretty much when I came here I had the fundamentals, so this offense is probably the most fundamental offense you can have. It’s the easiest handoffs, the easiest throws. It’s one read. We already play less than 11 (players), we play 8-man, so it’s easier. So, it’s just one read and go, so it’s pretty fundamental.”
For Hill, the offense is even simpler.
“I only have one thing to do (run), so everything with me is just good,” he said with a smile.
With two track champs in the backfield, it’s been a deadly scheme for the Rams’ opponents. Through seven games the team has rushed for a total of 2,675 yards, the majority of which have been generated by Hill and Benge, who combine to average over 300 rushing yards a game. In the team’s 54-34 win over Benton Academy on Aug. 29, Benge ran for 380 yards on 20 carries for a staggering six touchdowns, and also was 3-of-4 passing for 100 yards and two more scores. He also chipped in 10 tackles on defense. Against Tuscaloosa Christian on Sept. 5, Benge tallied 225 yards rushing and four touchdowns on 14 carries and threw for another score. Hill, in the same game, carved up 150 yards and a touchdown and added 14 tackles on defense, nine for loss.
In a 56-36 win over Russell Christian on Sept. 12, Hill exploded for 240 yards and four TDs – on eight carries – with nine tackles on defense. Benge ran 11 times for 130 yards and two more scores and was 4-of-6 passing for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
Don’t worry, there are more crazy stats.
Benge used 11 carries to rack up 235 yards and three touchdowns on Sept. 26 in a 62-6 win over Kemper Academy. All Hill added was 145 yards and three scores on 12 carries. Benge leads the state in rushing yards in 8-man football with 1,394 yards, which is 144 more yards than second-place Pine Belt quarterback Samuel Smith’s 1,250 yards on 67 less carries. His 23 touchdown runs are also tied for first in the state, and on the national scale his rushing yards are the seventh most. Hill is fourth in the state with 1,038 yards on 69 carries and 14 scores. And just when you think you’ve figured out who’s running the ball, Benge can always fire a pass to tight end David Easterling, who’s caught 21 passes for 718 yards and nine touchdowns. “Sometimes it just feels repetitive,” said Benge, who honed his passing accuracy at an early age by throwing a football at a telephone pole in his yard. “I mean nothing we do is trickery or nothing. We’re so smashmouth it’s just unreal. Sometimes it feels like a video game. People are so worried about our runs that all our throws are all 70-yard shot home runs.”
The two said it all comes from their brotherhood they built during track season. When one isn’t getting the ball, the other makes sure to clear a path by blocking and they have fun doing it.
“If I’m not getting the ball, I’m going to make sure (I’ve) got some blocks coming in to get it and go score,” Hill said. “Some games though I might be a little off, but he is going to pick it up. Some games when he’s not in that mode that (I’m) in, I’m going to take and go on and get them numbers up. That’s all I think about.”
Benge said he doesn’t think about the stats during the game, but admits it’s been fun to look at in their down time.
“It’s cool just to see the numbers that we put up and actually get a national ranking. So, it’s a good feeling,” he said.
Davidson said part of their success stems from Benge’s IQ with the ball and within the system and he finds himself coming to Benge to bounce ideas off of when it comes to adjustments within the game.
“I grew up with some old-school coaches and grew up as an old-school coach and everything and it used to be, ‘Hey, it’s going to be my way or the highway,’ but I literally trust him a lot because during the games sometimes he’s the one out there. … A lot of times, and I have never done this with another quarterback, but he’ll come to me and say, ‘Hey coach, so-and-so is wide open, or if we run this, this will be open.’ By doing that, that lets me adjust too.”
The transition
This season’s success is a far cry from last season, where the Rams went 4-5 and averaged 32 points a game.
The players weren’t happy with it and Davidson wasn’t interested in a repeat finish during his first year as coach, so he began laying the building blocks of his program on love, trust and commitment.
“We as coaches spend more time with our players, I’m not just saying me but all coaches in general, but spend more time with our players than what they spend with their family, and I know them as well as their families,” Davidson said. “And they know at the end of the day who has their backs and who is going to support them, but I’m also going to get on their butt whenever they’re wrong too.
“Since Day 1 I have taught them to be mentally tough, not just the physical aspect of it, because we lift and we run and I push them to no limits and I make them think that they’re better at something than what they are. And by doing that, that builds confidence in them too. Even though my chemo and stuff, they saw me fighting so they’ve continued to fight.”
Davidson took a moment to think back to track season and fought off tears when he recalled how his adversity brought them closer
“They said me coming to meets and practices and everything and still pushing them is what drove them,” Davidson said, pausing to wipe away a few tears that snuck free from his eyes and taking a moment to catch his breath, “but at the end of the day – they are what drove me.”
Davidson and the Rams have but one more District 2 football game against Hebron Christian (0-6) left standing in the way of a district championship and a playoff berth as a high seed. Their last regular season game is against Calhoun Academy on Oct. 24, and the Rams are looking to dominate the rest of the way, guided by the man who believes in them just as much as they believed in him through all of his battles.
“At the end of the day, at the end of a ball game, if someone is going to beat us, number one, they are going to have to outscore us. Number two, they have to have better conditioning and more heart. You are not going to take all three of them from us,” Davidson said with fiery passion. You may get one of them, but you are not getting all three, and you are not getting our heart.”
The Rams’ dynamic duo feels unbeatable as long as Davidson is calling the shots.
“I think a lot of people see us as the ones doing it, but I think we want to show people that if you listen to this man right here he will take you to the promised land,” Benge said.
“Yall are giving me too much credit,” Davidson quipped.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
