PALM BEACH GARDENS – In football, dynamic duos are all too common and come in different shapes and sizes.
At Benjamin, the combination of quarterback Tyler Aronson and Chauncey Bowens has become a critical part of an offense capable of leading them to bigger and better things.
While the two have combined in the past for dominating performances, it was eighth-ranked Benjamin’s 28-22 victory over American Heritage (Delray Beach) where the two combined for a winning performance.
Benjamin’s six-point home win over American Heritage (Delray Beach) (1-4) occurred on Friday, Oct. 1.
While both Aronson and Bowens had their own individual touchdowns, the two particularly combined for a touchdown that wound up being a critical one for the Bucs.
In the third quarter, Aronson went to his Bowens, his check down. From that point, it was up to the individual brilliance of Bowens to make something happen.
Bowens showed the same qualities that make him special – his contact balance and explosiveness in space – to break free and take the pass for a 78-yard touchdown.
The score extended Benjamin’s lead to 28-9.
“I’ve always been Tyler’s checkdown, even since little league and we’ve always been doing that, so I feel like it was just first nature,” Bowens said. “And then, of course, once you get into open field … you gotta get in.”
The touchdown was Aronson’s third of the night, connecting with Hardley Gilmore and Darrell Sweeting earlier in the game.
“It starts with the defense, they got me stops and I’m thankful for that … and the o-line did great,” Aronson said. “I was happy with myself on some stuff, on a lot of stuff I did. But there’s always stuff to fix.”
The combination of Aronson and Bowens is unique to football. Both are just sophomores and both played significantly as freshmen.
Aronson was Benjamin’s starting quarterback last season and helped lead the Bucs to a victory over Miami-Westminster Christian in the opening round of the FHSAA Class 3A state playoffs.
Before his season ended prematurely due to injury, Bowens was a big-time performer on offense and began showing the signs that we now see out of him.
Now, the two, combined with an opportunistic defense, has Benjamin sitting at a 4-1 record with wins over two Palm Beach County opponents – Cardinal Newman and American Heritage (Delray Beach).
Aronson’s strong arm and impressive command of the offense are seemingly critical for Benjamin’s offense. For just a sophomore, he’s more refined than most quarterbacks that we see at his age.
“He listens, he throws his checkdowns, you saw what happened on the checkdown,” Benjamin head coach Eric Kresser said of Aronson. “He plays within the offense, he can make all the throws. Good pocket presence.”
Bowens is a refined running back who doesn’t go down on first contact and has the ability to turn nothing into something with explosive breakaway speed.
“He’s very physical, he has great feet and he bounces off first contact almost every time,” Aronson said of Bowens. “He never really gets tackled by one person. And he’s a game changer too.”
That contact balance is a critical part of his game. It’s allowed him to constantly turn potential short gains into long runs and it’s helped keep some drives alive for the Benjamin offense.
“I think it’s just all about practice,” Bowens said about his contact balance. “Sometimes you’re going to go down on the first hit but I feel like, as a running back, you can’t let it happen.”
According to Kresser, the duo’s advantage lies in their build.
“They look like college guys, they look like pro guys, and they’re 15 years old,” said Kresser. “They throw like older guys, they run like older guys. You put them against high school kids and that’s the difference.”
The two, though, don’t just have great chemistry on the field. Bowens mentions that the two are best friends off the field, playing video games (Bowens joked that he has Aronson’s number in the Madden NFL video game, though Aronson may have the upper hand in other video games) and hanging out. The two also shared the field in Pop Warner before their time at Benjamin.
“Every other week, I’m at Tyler’s house,” said Bowens. “Me and him being best friends on and off the field, there’s nothing that can break that bond.”
Now, the two are part of one of the younger offenses, and teams, in the country that are looking to have a bright future.
“More than half of our starters, out of our 22 guys, are freshman or sophomores. So, we’re very young,” Kresser said. “And there’s actually a few guys on the team that aren’t starters that are young guys, that are gonna be big-time players. … So, the future is definitely bright.”
ALL OTHER WEEK 6 FINAL SCORES FROM FRIDAY, OCT. 1: PALM BEACH COUNTY
No. 1 Palm Beach Central 43, Jupiter 21
Carol City (Miami) 20, No. 2 Glades Central 18
No. 3 Dwyer 40, Sebastian River 0
No. 4 Park Vista 56, Santaluces 0
No. 5 Palm Beach Gardens 35, Palm Beach Lakes 14
No. 6 Pahokee 41, Okeechobee 7
No. 7 Atlantic (Delray Beach) 67, Olympic Heights 0 – THURSDAY, SEPT. 30
No. 9 Seminole Ridge 34, Fort Pierce Westwood 0
No. 10 Cardinal Newman 65, Suncoast 0 – THURSDAY, SEPT. 30
Boca Raton 40, Stoneman Douglas 3
Forest Hill 56, Lake Worth 12 – THURSDAY, SEPT. 30
Wellington 43, Royal Palm Beach 0 – THURSDAY, SEPT. 30
Jupiter Christian 45, Inlet Grove 28
King’s Academy 49, St. John Paul II 14
Glades Day 78, Moore Haven 0
St. Andrews 51, Spanish River 0
Palm Beach Christian Prep 26, Cocoa Beach 12
Westminster Academy 28, Somerset Academy Canyons 14
Santa Fe Catholic 48, Berean Christian 19
Keswick Christian 2, Boca Raton Christian 0 – FORFEIT per MaxPreps
West Boca Raton vs. Coral Springs – Postponed to Monday, Oct. 18
MONDAY NIGHT SHOWCASE: Boynton Beach (3-1) at Jensen Beach (1-2) – Kickoff tonight (Oct. 4) at 6 p.m.
WEEK 6 BYE: John I. Leonard
