Son of ex-UM Hurricanes star celebrates St. Thomas University’s first football win

This was a joyous trip.

The St. Thomas University Bobcats football team boarded three charter buses Saturday afternoon to make the 14-hour trip from Kentucky back home to Miami.

“We laughed for so long,” Bobcats outside linebacker Donnell Bennett III said. “We danced, listened to music, cracked jokes.”

That was to be expected after the Bobcats defeated host Union College (Barbourville, Kentucky), 45-20 on Saturday for the first football win in St. Thomas history.

Voted by the coaches as one of his team’s captains, Bennett had four solo tackles and three assists to lead the Bobcats (1-1), who forced five turnovers, including four interceptions.

Bennett, a 6-0, 230-pound freshman, is no stranger to football. His father, Donnell Bennett Jr., played running back for the Miami Hurricanes and was a second-round pick in 1994, starting 29 games and scoring 17 touchdowns in his NFL career.

Bennett Jr., who now serves as a mentor at Cardinal Gibbons, where another of his sons, Coleman, is a senior running back, made the trip to Kentucky and came away impressed by the Bobcats.

“I’m really proud of those guys,” said Bennett Jr. “I spent time at [St. Thomas’] training camp earlier in the year, and you can see their growth. To see them play the way they did on Saturday was special.”

Bennett III, who grew up playing middle linebacker as the focal point of the Gibbons defense, has made an adjustment to the outside, where a key part of his role is forcing ball-carriers inside.

Bobcats coach Bill Rychel said Bennett was selected as a leader and as one of 29 early signees who were brought in this past January.

“It’s a blessing for us to have him,” Rychel said. “He’s been playing well all year. He comes from a great family, great football background.”

Bennett Jr., whose son Coleman is getting recruited by Ivy League schools, said he’s grateful that St. Thomas has started its football program this year and that Florida Memorial – also at the NAIA level – will reinstate the sport next year.

“It’s great for kids in the tri-county area,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bennett III is enjoying his college experience. The 18-year-old graduated from Gibbons last year and spent a half-semester at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia before enrolling at St. Thomas.

The opportunity to help start a program was appealing to Bennett, who has followed his father’s cleat marks as a football player, although not as a running back.

“I played a little bit of running back in Pop Warner ball in short-yardage situations, going downhill and smashing people in the mouth,” Bennett said. “But I have a knack for defense, finding the ball and making tackles.

“I love being able to hit people and not get in trouble.”

While Bennett is violent on the field, he is studious in the classroom. He plans on majoring in psychology so that he can help in the community.

“I want to be able to reach kids in a way that maybe other people can’t,” he said. “I want to be able to dissect things and help them reach their potential.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ The Bobcats will play host to Point University (Georgia) at noon on Saturday. The game will be held at St. Thomas Aquinas High.

▪ The Bobcats are looking for a donor so that they can afford to build an on-campus football field, according to university president David A. Armstrong.