First-ever B-team now takes stage as Iron Horse seniors
Remember 2021, a year we would probably like to forget because of the scourge of COVID-19?
Everything seemed to be contracting if not completely shutting down. But 2021 was the year the Philip Simmons High School football program expanded with the addition of a B-team.
A B-team is usually composed of younger athletes in the 7th, 8th, and sometimes 9th grades. It is below a junior varsity team and serves to develop fundamental skills while giving players game experience.
The results were remarkable, so much so that the football program at PSHS can be divided into two phases, including BC: No, not the time period used before Year 1 in the Gregorian calendar. In this case, BC was "Before COVID-19."
Coach Eric Bendig’s crew was 9-18 in the program’s first three seasons. Since 2021, the Iron Horses own an impressive 48-14 record.
“That was our first B-team,” Bendig said. “It was started to build the program up. So, it is topical and a good thing to have out there. Our senior class has a lot of members that were on the B-team five years ago. They were something like 9-1, and the continuity and five years of work and playing together are paying off and hopefully lead to more championships.”
The addition of a B-team created massive interest in the program. That first season in 2017 included about 40 to 50 players. Bendig greeted more than 110 players at all levels of the program during the 2026 spring practice.
“Having a B-team gives us another opportunity to develop players and build depth throughout the program,” Bendig said. “It gives younger guys meaningful reps and allows us to develop them the right way instead of rushing them along.
“Ultimately, that makes our entire program stronger,” Bendig continued. “Having players introduced to and taught the game at the 7th and 8th grade level to our standard is priceless. “We operate the B-team the same way we do the JV and the varsity. We have one standard here.”
Bendig knew his 2021 B-team players had potential.
“I think we knew there was something different about this group pretty early,” the coach said. “They grew up together. They’re extremely close, they enjoy being around each other, and they work for each other. You never really know what a group will become, but they’ve continued to show us they have something special.”
Seniors who were on the 2021 B-team include a list of potential, all-region, all-state players, and student-athletes who might play at the next level: Patrick Clarke, Ford Crawford, Ryland Donley, Hayes Goddard, Bernard Jenkins, Jordan Johnson, Ashton Kellermann, Omonte Taylor, Alex Tchoryk, Sullivan Tollison, and Divante Irving.
“This is the group who have stayed since,” Bendig said. “In that B-team were also a number of players who have gone off to other places and maybe left the game. But 11 core guys, 10 who are starters. Half the starting unit almost.”