GAME OF THE WEEK: Warner Robins football takes on toughest region opponent yet as Benedictine comes to town

With Wayne County in the rear view, Warner Robins (5-1, 1-0 Region 1-4A) will prepare for potentially their toughest test to date as the Benedictine Cadets (2-2, 0-0 Region) roll into town on Friday.

The Cadets’ game against Ware County was slated for Monday, Sept. 30, but was postponed with a date to be announced. This will be their region opener.

Benedictine finished last season 13-1; Their lone loss was in the semifinals to Stockbridge, who lost to Perry in the 4A state championship.

This isn’t the same group of Cadets from last year, though. They lost Region 3-4A Co-offensive Player of the Year quarterback Luke Kromenhoek (Florida State), Co-defensive Player of the Year Wilkes Albert (all-time leading tackler at Benedictine), Athlete of the Year Bryce Baker (Georgia Southern) and many others on the first- and second-teams.

There are still plenty of dangerous players the Demons have to account for, however. Here are three things to watch:

1. New signal caller, similar skillset

Stephen Cannon is not Kromenhoek, but if you squint your eyes a little bit you might see a resemblance.

That’s not to say that Cannon is as polished or destined to be a four-star commit to a power-four school, but he does provide some of the same skillset.

Three games into his junior season Cannon is 40-of-74 through the air for 629 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s also rushed 25 times for 88 yards and two touchdowns.

His arm is very good, and if he gets time to set his feet and throw his accuracy is great most of the time. He puts the ball where only his receivers can get it, though at times it’s clanked off of their hands and been tipped up making for some dangerous situations.

He’s also got solid legs, but seemingly average evasiveness. If he escapes pressure he’s quick enough to get out for the first down, but he was sacked six times in the first three games of the season. Five-star EDGE Isaiah Gibson is an important player to watch in this matchup.

Cannon doesn’t do it alone, obviously. He has a solid couple of junior receivers in Bubba Frazier and Joshua Washington. The pair has combined for 377 yards and four touchdowns on 25 receptions.

Both are asked to do a fair amount of work after the catch, and are solid blocking on those wide receiver screen-type plays.

2. Stars at every level

Benedictine returns a lot of their top-end defensive talent from last year at every level. Senior linebacker Herbert “Third” Scroggins was on the Region 3-4A First-Team Defense last year and currently leads the group with four sacks after recording 12 in 2023.

At 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds he’s often too much for blocking running backs or tight ends. But he’s quick enough to get by some tackles in his relentless pursuit of the quarterback.

Junior Kameron Cody leads the defensive line after being elected to the Second-Team Defense last year. He was third in tackles for a loss and second in sacks in 2023 with 10 and eight respectively. This year he leads the team with five TFLs and is tied for second in sacks with two.

His strength alone makes it hard to hold a block on him, and even if he is double-teamed there were plays last year where he was able to get around with relative speed and put pressure on the quarterback. He also excels against the run, pushing his blocker into lanes and coming off of the block to make a play on the ball carrier.

In the secondary Micah Williams returns from last year’s First-Team Defense where he recorded three interceptions and two pass deflections. This year through two games he’s already got one interception and three pass deflections.

He’s a solid tackler with the size and length to get in and make plays on the ball.

3. Special teams

This segment of every Warner Robins football preview or recap surely sounds like a broken record, but the Demons have not been able to figure out special teams at this point in the season.

They have their great moments with punt return touchdowns, but they have just as many bad moments if not more.

Against Wayne County not calling for a fair catch nearly cost them possession if they hadn’t recovered the fumble. They’ve had blocked field goals and punts returned for touchdowns, and errors like these won’t go unpunished against Benedictine.

Frazier is capable of making plays on special teams for the Cadets, and their offense is poised to take advantage of any miscues Warner Robins makes in the third phase of the game.

Kickoff is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the MAC.