Georgia commit Chauncey Bowens sets Benjamin straight vs. Pahokee, eyes on Cardinal Newman
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Victory felt a little sweeter for Benjamin football on Friday.
The Bucs thought they had it with a 17-0 halftime lead over Palm Beach Central last Friday, but the Broncos came back with a 27-point fourth quarter to stay undefeated. Propelled by three touchdowns from senior running back Chauncey Bowens, Benjamin got back on track at Theofilos Field in Week 8 with a 35-0 win against Pahokee.
“We gave up one. We all know that,” Benjamin coach Eric Kresser told his players after the game.
“At halftime, you didn’t think about the score. Came out. Did the same thing over again. Great job.”
As usual, Bowens, the Georgia commit, put Benjamin on the board early — four minutes into the first quarter — with a powerful carry into the end zone.
Pahokee sophomore edge Antonio Simpson and junior outside linebacker Kano Smith were quickly on Benjamin quarterback Jayden Vega, holding the Pahokee defense steady to bring up fourth down, needing a single touchdown to tie the Bucs at 7 with three minutes to the half.
Kresser and staff trusted the O-line to clear the way for sophomore running back Phoenix Donghia and a 3-yard gain to keep the Bucs alive in the red zone. On the next down, with 3:09 to halftime, Bowens headed 32 yards to the house for his second touchdown of the evening.
“We open things up for each other,” Bowens said of Donghia.
“You know, it's really good to see him grow and develop,” Bowens said. “That’s a guy that I try to take under my wing in everything, on and off the field, so I'm just really glad to see him excel.”
Bowens’ hat trick touchdown to put Benjamin up 21-0, less than a minute later, came courtesy of a forced fumble by Gage Wallace and a recovery by Jeron Atwater Jr., both juniors.
“Our team — we don't have really have any egotistical guys and everyone's just grinders,” Bowens said. “We all have something to work for. We all have something to earn.”
Vega came out in the third quarter to help Benjamin lay the hammer on Pahokee with a touchdown pass to Jacob Cosby-Mosley, a three-star Wake Forest commit, for 65 yards.
Benjamin’s final score came with three minutes left in the third quarter, when Donghia crossed the goal line with a 16-yard touchdown rush, protected along the way by fellow on-the-rise 2025 recruit Adam Balogoun-Ali.
With another payback win down to flip the script from a 36-31 loss to Pahokee last fall, all eyes are now on next Friday’s battle at Cardinal Newman.
Kresser reminded the Bucs in postgame: “We’ve got a big game coming up. This is a championship game coming up.”
“I think we left a lot out there last year,” Bowens said, remembering the 36-14 regular season loss that preceded a 14-6 defeat in the Class 1M region semifinals. “Even though we lost some guys, I think we got a lot of good additions.”
“It’s going to be exciting. We’ve worked hard for this.”
Emilee Smarr is the high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
Week 8 Scoreboard
Friday
Benjamin 35, Pahokee 0
Boca Raton 24, Santaluces 21
Atlantic 43, Seminole Ridge 13
Somerset-Canyons 35, American Heritage 14
Cardinal Newman 70, St. John Paul II 6
Coconut Creek 42, West Boca 28
Wildwood 38, Spanish River 34
Jupiter Christian 40, Avant Garde 14
Coral Springs 36, Olympic Heights 24
Oxbridge Academy 42, Somerset-Key 12
All Saints Academy 46, Berean 0
Thursday
Jupiter 42, Palm Beach Lakes 12
Palm Beach Gardens 34, Royal Palm 0
Palm Beach Central 48, Forest Hill 12
Boca Christian 28, St. Edward’s 26
St. Andrew’s 42, Boynton Beach 7
Park Vista 26, Lake Worth 0
Wellington 28, John I. Leonard 6
Glades Central 7, Inlet Grove 6
King’s Academy 49, Suncoast 7
Glades Day 29, SWFL Christian 26
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Georgia RB commit Chauncey Bowens gets Benjamin back on track vs. Pahokee
