Georgia Public Broadcasting will be live Friday night at McEachern High School as the Indians take on Lowndes in the Friday Night Game of the Week. Before the game, McEachern will retire the late Rajaan Bennett's number and unveil a memorial so future generations can remember Bennett. Be sure to tune in to gpb.org/sports starting at 7pm.
Coming into the 2009 football season, Bennett was on everyone's list for top senior running backs, but he was behind the likes of Mack Brown, Ken Malcolm and Storm Johnson. On September 11, GPB was at Woodstock High School when Bennett proved just how dominant he could be, rallying his team from a seemingly insurmountable halftime deficit to score three TDs on 22 carries including the game-winning score in overtime. By the end of the year, it was obvious that Bennett was the most valuable back to his team in the entire state. Bennett finished with 1,857 yards and 28 TDs as the Indians went undefeated in the regular season en route to a region championship and a spot in the Georgia Class AAAAA state playoffs.
Before the season, Bennett wasn't on the radar of many college programs but by the end of the year, schools from around the south were trying to nab Bennett. This past February, Bennett committed to Vanderbilt because he realized that student comes first in the term student-athlete. Sadly, Bennett would never step foot on the Nashville campus as a student as his life ended in a tragic incident just days after National Signing Day.
The McEachern family and the Powder Springs community poured forth with support, and on Friday night, the program will retire the No.5 he wore and dedicate a memorial to Bennett. Bennett will not be forgotten anytime soon and Friday night will be meant to honor the memory of a young man that was the son, brother, student, teammate and friend we all should strive to be.
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