Cousins Benny Williams and Jaylen Antoine leading Bay High with confidence
Family ties are running deep in the Tiger backfield.
Bay High has won its last three games and controls its own destiny within Region 8-4A thanks to the thunder-and-lightning running of cousins Benny Williams and Jaylen Antoine.
The two have rushed for over 1,600 yards together, leading the Coast as the most prolific rushing duo up to this point.
The Tigers have leaned on their rush attack to double their win total from a season ago and place themselves on the fast track to the postseason.
“Benny and Jaylen are first cousins, their mommas are sisters so it’s kind of a friendly rivalry between them,” BHS coach Jeremy Turcotte said about the dynamic duo that resides in his backfield. “They block for one another. They both cheer when the other one cheers. It’s competitive, it’s a lot of fun.”
The two highlight an offense that is averaging over 30 points a game. That’s a high mark under Turcotte at The Bay and hasn’t been done at the school since the 10-win 2012 season.
This coming during a season where the Tigers dropped three of their first four games.
“Nothing magic, other than we’ve just been working and working and the kids believe,” Turcotte said.
Williams joins Antoine
The older cousin, Williams, is still new to football.
According to Turcotte, the now-senior joined the program as a sophomore and was initially just a defensive specialist. His natural athleticism eventually brought him to the backfield.
“We’ve always known Benny was incredibly athletic, but he’s still a relatively inexperienced football player with a ton of upside,” Turcotte said. “He’s the most athletic kid on the football team. Overall, he’s the biggest, fastest, strongest.”
Williams brings a downhill running style that immediately paired well with the shiftiness of Antoine.
The two have produced several big games between them while playing off each other’s skill set. Williams has two 200-yard games so far, one against Long Beach and then again last week against Moss Point.
Antoine tallied up 287 yards against Presbyterian Christian and came one yard short of a second 200-yard game last Friday.
“It’s helped out a lot,” Antoine said of the two-back system. “Instead of getting the ball a whole lot, now I can play defense a little bit, go to cornerback. (Benny) coming to the offensive side, now they have two people to worry about.”
Williams is the power back who runs like he’s “always mad,” according to Antoine. But Williams credits his cousin for how he’s molded his own style.
“He runs so aggressive,” Williams said. “I like his run game. I feel like that’s where I picked up my running off of.”
The two are running behind a deeply experienced offensive line boasting four seniors and a Stanford commit in Ziron Brown.
The line has played particularly well the last few weeks, which gives Turcotte confidence his team is still heading in the right direction.
“I’m really proud of where we are,” Turcotte said. “Our goal is to win a district championship, get to the playoffs and go from there. We’re right where we want to be, as far as that being out in front of us. We feel like we can play with anybody on a given night.”
Running for more
Williams and Antoine have a challenge going between them on who will outgain the other by the end of the year. Antoine is leading in yards per game, but is behind in total rushing yards due to missing a contest.
The edge belongs to Williams, 894-780, but Antoine hasn’t given up. “It’s a big challenge, because he’s my older cousin. I want to beat him.”
The competition isn’t the tandem’s ultimate goal, but merely a mechanism to help drive them toward what that is: a district championship.
“If we come out aggressive every game, there’s nobody that scares me,” Antoine said. “I feel like we can win a district championship this year, hopefully go to state and win that.”
Bay High is off to 1-0 start within its five-team district, giving it exceptional odds of making the playoffs for the third time in four years. That being a feat never before accomplished at the school.
The win over Moss Point was a 94-year first. With a challenging slate ahead that includes Poplarville and Pass Christian, snapping streaks and racking up yardage has helped infuse the Tigers with confidence.
“I’m really confident about these last few games,” Williams said. “I feel like we can wipe anybody as long as we just put our mind to it. We hadn’t beat Moss Point since 1929, I believe. We just went out there and just played. If it wasn’t raining, we could’ve beat them by 50. That’s just how I feel, I’m that confident in our team.”
“We’ve just got to believe that we belong,” Turcotte said.
Bay High will defend its winning streak at home this week with a region bout against Greene County.
