Football: Coal City’s Benson named Daily Journal Player of the Year

As Landin Benson and his friends on the Coal City Miners youth football program grew up spending Friday nights watching the Coalers continue their standard of excellence at the high school level, they got to witness one of the best runs in school history when they were in middle school, the 2019 team’s run to the IHSA Class 4A State semifinals.

That year, on a loaded Coalers team, running back Daniel Jezik powered the offense, breaking the school’s career and single-season rushing records as he and the team made the program’s seventh semifinal appearance.

“I’d say I looked up to them a lot,” Benson recalled of the great Coaler teams that he watched as a youngster. “I always came to the games to watch them, and it was really cool to see them make it that far.”

A season is like that is Benson said he couldn’t have dreamt of having. But as it turns it, that’s exactly the kind of season he had during his senior year as a Coaler this fall.

A three-year standout in the Coal City backfield, Benson soared past Jezik’s school career rushing record during the regular season, followed up by a postseason performance for the ages that guided the Coalers back to the semifinal round.

A three-time All-Illinois Central Eight Conference and Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Class 4A Academic All-Stater and two-time all-state first-teamer, Benson ran for 1,700 yards and 28 touchdowns, both first in the Daily Journal 11-Man area, second only in the area to St. Anne’s Chris Link (2,126 yards, 33 TDs).

The three-time Daily Journal All-Area pick is also this year’s Daily Journal Player of the Year.

Benson, who also won the Class 1A 165-pound state title in wrestling last winter, ended his career with 4,111 career rushing yards and almost as many memories from his three-year stint atop the running back depth chart.

Out of those memories, what will always stand out most in his mind will be the final run he and the Coalers made in this year’s Class 4A Playoffs.

He ran for 663 yards and nine touchdowns on 121 carries in four playoff games.

Somewhat ironically, it’s the one postseason game in which he didn’t run for a touchdown that he’ll remember most. He ran for 143 yards on 42 carries in an instant classic quarterfinal against Dixon, throwing an 8-yard touchdown in the third quarter before grinding out a hard-fought 4th-and-inches in the game’s final stanza that allowed them to run out the clock on their 20-13 victory.

“Nobody expected it from us,” Benson said of the Coalers’ run after a 7-2 regular season and second-round playoff exit last season. “Making a run that deep in the playoffs is kind of crazy.”

After running for 967 yards as a sophomore and 1,444 yards as a junior, Benson continued his progression by hitting the 1,700-yard mark as a senior. His explosive season came in the first year of an entirely new offensive identity for the Coalers.

As they welcomed a trio of former Coalers to the offensive staff — Cody Onsen, Jack Dibble and Matt Long — the team employed a much more diverse, spread out look this fall. But at the core of that offensive continued to be Benson.

Dibble was the program’s career rushing leader before Jezik took the crown from him, and Benson credits his relationship with Dibble for plenty of his success, right there with his offensive line.

Benson broke the school rushing record during a 27-13 trip to Peotone in Week 5. Although he didn’t know he did it at the time, being able to have Dibble there to see his accomplishment made it even more special.

“It meant a lot,” Benson said. “The two people leading [the record book] before me were Dibble and Jezik, so beating out Dibble and Jezik, who I looked up to in middle school, I’m glad I had that opportunity.”

From head coach Francis Loughran’s point of view, Benson’s record came as a result of his dedication to better himself. Whether that’s in athletics, where Benson also plays recreation league soccer in the spring in addition to football in wrestling, or in the classroom, where he’s become a three-time IHSFCA All-State All-Academic selection, Loughran always sees Benson putting in extra effort.

“You look at all the offseason work we do in the weight room and him being the leader in there, having other players follow his lead and follow the program has been huge for us getting on board,” Loughran said. “Having his buy-in definitely has shown for us coaches.

“On top of that, you look and he’s a good student, good kid in building and a positive role model.”

As Benson eyes both individual and team wrestling gold this winter, a last run in rec league soccer in the spring and a college decision, a youngster from a wave of Coalers will strap up the shoulder pads he turned in after the Coalers’ season ended with a narrow 21-14 loss to eventual state champion DePaul in the semifinals.

Like Benson saw with Jezik, another future Coaler watched the school’s run this fall and will dream of doing the same thing with their friends. And because of not just the success he’s had, but those qualities he possesses, Loughran can’t imagine a better young man for future Coalers to aspire to be.

“You look at this program and he exemplifies being a Coaler football player, being a Coaler running back,” Loughran said. “[Benson] mentioned before, the guys he looked up to, and those guys looked up to previous classes.

“ ... One thing with it is, talk about Landin’s character, what a great role model for young players to look up to.”

https://daily-journal.com/sports/football-coal-citys-benson-named-daily-journal-player-of-the-year/article_7febb7dc-be96-11ef-97a1-8b3b9665bec7.html