By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports

During the off-season summer workouts, new Benton coach Stephen Dennis had some of his players work with the town’s seventh and eighth grade teams on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

He knew that it might be asking a little too much to ask Malachi Zeigler to come be part of that since the star quarterback (and four-star recruit) had spent much of his summer on recruiting trips that were disguised as summer football camps.

“Kids like him deserve to have some summer time off, too,” Dennis said.

Nevertheless, Zeigler found out about it anyway and came to throw with the middle schools one night. “Coach, how long have y’all been doing this?” Zeigler asked Dennis.

From that point forward — even with constant phone calls and texts that come along with the college recruiting process — Malachi Zeigler never missed another Tuesday or Thursday session with a group of pre-teen football players.

“If you could build what a quarterback in the modern day game looks like, Malachi is what you picture that would be,” Dennis said. “Everybody knows what Malachi can do on the football field. But what is amazing is that God has given him a gift that’s going to open a lot of doors for him. He is an amazing young man who is humble and caring.”

Leaving Huntington (a regular visitor to the playoffs) to come to Benton, which was 1-9 last year and finished last in the district, might seem like a tough transition for Dennis.

Having Ziegler certainly makes that transition a whole lot easier.

Recruiting website 24/7 Sports has the 6-2, 209-pound Zeigler rated as the nation’s No. 9 quarterback for the Class of 2027. His interest list currently has Arkansas, Auburn, Michigan, Miami and Florida State plus a few dozen more.

But that’s still two football seasons away.

“I had a very eventful summer,” Zeigler said. “I got to spend a lot of time working on improving all aspects of my game. But I also want to grow as a leader.”

Ziegler uses one word to describe the recruiting process this summer. “Fulfilling,” he said.

He has been to stops such as Ann Arbor (Michigan) Nashville (Vanderbilt), South Bend (Notre Dame) and Columbia (South Carolina), among others, in his whirlwind summer.

“It’s been eye opening for sure,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to travel and see the world. You get a chance to see different aspects of the world that I would otherwise never get to see.”

Linebacker Beckett Moore stayed closer to home during the summer, but the experience of 7-on-7 summer camps and off-season workouts has made the coaching transition smoother.

“Everybody is trying to improve and get better,” Moore said. “The adjustment with Coach Dennis has been very positive for this team. He’s fiery and intense, but he brings out the best in us and allows us to push ourselves harder.”

“These kids have worked their tails off since the day we came in the door,” Dennis said. “We’ve asked them to answer the bell and they just say ‘yes sir’ and work harder. Any time the kids are working as hard as the coaches, that’s a good indication of adjustment.”

Zeigler agrees. “I’ll be honest, (the adjustment) hasn’t been hard at all,” the quarterback said. “When you hear him talk and his passion for the game, he’s a guy you want to play for.”

The adjustment for Dennis has also come off the field as he has embraced the community feel that Benton offers. His kids are in school just down the street from the high school. “I was able to take that first day of school picture for once,” he said. “For the first time in my teaching career, my boys have been able to ride with me to school.”

Dennis will be making the defensive calls this year and brought Jeff Bordelon from Huntington to be the offensive coordinator.

Dennis said there is a balance between adjusting to the players and the players adjusting to a new staff. 

“I think the scheme is fluid,” he said. “If you pour a fluid into a container, it’s going to take the shape of the container. But your identity is your identity. I think there will be a lot of things that people recognize, but we are going to take our scheme and fit it to the personnel that we have.”

The Tigers open the 2025 season on Sept. 5 at home against Northwood.

Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com