Benedictine not backing down from tough schedule after 7-5 season

Benedictine provides education and discipline in a way completely different from a typical public school or most private schools. It is a military school that implements military ethos throughout its program. The school preaches duty, respect, honor, selfless service and other values to develop players into leaders on and off the field.

“It definitely benefits the football program because (of) the leadership they learn,” Benedictine football coach Danny Britt. “First, they learn how to follow, right? You can’t lead if you can’t follow. They learn how to follow their leaders, and then they are taught, literally taught, how to lead.”

Britt is coming up on his 15th season at the Savannah school. He has won four state championships, two in Class 2A and two in 4A, and nine region championships. In his 20 years as a head coach in Georgia, he’s had only two losing seasons.

But being a student-athlete for the Cadets is no walk in the park. An average day, typically, starts before 7 a.m. in the weight room. After completing eight periods of classes, which include a religious and military studies requirement, students would begin their football requirements. Some days can go until 7:30 p.m.

“I feel like that’s why we’ve had such success with kids that do go play in college, because heck, they’re already ready for it,” Britt said.

The Cadets have had more than a dozen players receive Division I scholarships since Britt’s arrival, and that number is going up.

Benedictine’s current senior class includes Stephen Cannon (committed to Texas Tech), Bubba Frazier (Notre Dame) and Kameron Cody (Clemson). Safety Micah Williams and other players have multiple D-I offers.

Cannon, the team’s quarterback, injured his shoulder midseason vs. Ware County, which sidelined him for the remainder of the year. In seven games as a first-year starter, he passed for 1,352 yards and 11 touchdowns.

“He's back in great shape,” Britt said. “Just physically, he’s a specimen right now. He's a good leader. He's not a huge rah-rah guy, but you know he will instruct the guys, he will tell them, and they respect him, and we're going to go as he goes.”

Frazier, a wide receiver, feels like an old veteran to Britt. He says Frazier is an exceptional athlete and a remarkable young man.

“(He) does everything for us,” Britt said. “(He) can get (in) the wildcat and play your slot receiver. Split out and will get in the backfield for us, certainly on short-yardage type stuff. He’ll be a returner, and he'll play some nickel and dime for us.”

Defensively, Cody will be the anchor on the line. A four-year starter, Cody can play every spot on the defensive line, and at 290 pounds, he’s tough and a tremendous athlete.

Benedictine has had high-profile transfers into the program over the years, but the most recent, LaDamion Guyton, is undoubtedly the most prominent. 

Guyton, the consensus No. 1 rising junior prospect nationally,  would attend Benedictine games as an eighth grader just to see what it was like. He played for Savannah Christian before transferring this spring.

Britt said Guyton’s mother contacted Benedictine's administration to inquire about transferring. Britt told the family it would be tough and that there was a lot of work that needed to be done to complete the transfer.  Guyton and his mom accepted that challenge.

“The whole staff met with him,” Britt said. “Not the whole football staff but the admissions staff met with him and said, ‘If you transfer, you’re going to have to pick up and move and it’s going to be a lot to it and it’s going to be challenging academically and all this stuff. And they really wanted to do it. So, I mean, to make it perfectly legal, which it is, he did everything right. We didn’t reach out to him. He reached out to us.”

Britt said Guyton mentioned that the ability to compete against and with the best week after week eventually drew him to be a part of the Cadets’ program.

Guyton, an edge rusher, could not participate fully during spring practices because of a shoulder injury suffered last season, but Britt expects Guyton to be ready by the season opener.

Last season was one of injuries for Benedictine, which finished 7-5, which represented the Cadets’ fewest victories since 2011, Britt’s first season. Smaller schools, such as Benedictine, can’t afford to have injuries when facing larger schools because one injury can cost the team two starters.

“I mean, that happened,” Britt said. “Injuries are a part of a physical game of football, right? We're never going to run scared from that, we're going to play.”

The Cadets open their 2025 season at Colquitt County, a Class 6A power. It will be the first meeting between those schools.

That game will be followed by a rematch against Buford from the year before, when Benedictine lost 29-28. Benedictine led 21-10 in the second half, and Buford, ranked in the top 25 nationally, won on a two-point conversion with 1:05 left. Maybe Buford’s players didn’t respect Benedictine’s talent after jumping out to a 10-0 lead.

“The (Buford) players probably didn't, but they will this year,” Britt said. “So, it's going to be even more of a challenge.”

Benedictine’s schedule includes three other teams – Ware County, Warner Robins and Perry – that have won state titles this decade.

Benedictine’s 2025 Schedule

8/15 at Colquitt County

8/22 vs. Buford

8/29 at Burke County

9/19 at Westminster

9/26 at Ware County

10/3 vs. Warner Robins

10/10 at New Hampstead

10/17 vs. Wayne County

10/24 at Perry