Einstein of the Offensive Line

In an era where football coaches stipulate academic excellence from their players, Ben Davis is a coach’s dream. Davis, a senior at Pierce County High School, began 2013-2014 as the top-ranked student in his class, positioning himself to be valedictorian. Though he was named Most Intellectual among male students in his senior class, Davis isn’t just a smart guy who plays football. He’s an integral part of a senior class that has won more games (30 and counting at press time) and titles (two region championships) than any other group in PCHS history.

“Ben has a photographic memory,” notes PCHS head coach Sean Pender. “If you draw something up on the board, he has no problem knowing what to do. He knows it right away. You explain it to him one time and he’s got it.”

Davis comes from a long line of academic excellence. His grandfather, Coleman Harrison, was a valedictorian at Blackshear High School, a precursor to PCHS. Davis’s mother, Brenda, was a salutatorian at the same school. “Ben’s self-discipline and determination serve him well not only in the classroom but on the football field,” says Brenda Davis. “His offensive line coach, Brandon Jernigan, calls Ben ‘the Einstein of the offensive line.’ Ben knows every play and plays every position on the line except center. Coach Jernigan says it’s like having another coach on the field.”

Ben Davis was recently named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist, an honor granted to approximately one percent of students nationwide. Though he has yet to specify a career path, it’s a safe bet he’ll be among the best at whatever he chooses.
“People always ask me, ‘Why do you make good grades?’ and it makes me kind of mad,” says Davis. “I am blessed with intelligence, yes, but I look around at people in class and see them talking to their friends or goofing off. What sets people apart is work ethic. My father instilled that in me when I was really young.”

His father, Burt Davis, offers this memory: “We were living in Ormond Beach, Florida, and Ben’s mom would pick up (older son) Brad from elementary school. Ben would ride with her and go over multiplication tables in the car. I think he was two or three years old when Brad would bring some of his friends over to watch Ben recite multiplication tables. They just didn’t believe it.”

Ben Davis has fashioned a 4.0 GPA during his high school career and achieved a perfect score of 2400 on the SAT under the “super scoring” method that combines personal best scores from each section. Teachers got a glimpse of those intellectual talents in middle school when Davis missed only one question on the CRCT. He also noted two questions that did not offer correct answers so administrators contacted testing officials who subsequently tossed out those questions for everyone in the state.  

A member of Beta Club, the math team, and First Southern Bank’s Junior Board, Davis owns an academic portfolio that also includes numerous honors classes. Slated to take his fourth AP class (calculus) next semester, he declined dual college enrollment this semester because it would have conflicted with his AP biology class. The AP schedule also prohibits Davis from taking weight training at PCHS. He consequently rises before six o’clock each morning and hits the weight room, where he works out with pal Charles Scarborough. Davis will likely pursue a collegiate path, sans football, but it’s been a great ride with three championships (including a middle school conference title) to date.

“My group was successful in middle school with Darius Foreman and Cole Smith and those guys,” Davis says. “Coach Pender came in when I was a rising sophomore. He got all of us in the auditorium and the first words out of his mouth were ‘state championship.’ Part of me thought he was crazy and part of me wanted to believe him. In the first scrimmage against Wayne County, we got down 14 or 21 points in the first quarter and I was thinking it was the same old, same old. Micah Larson was in at QB and we kept scoring and about halftime we were even. Coach Pender came in at halftime and gave a rousing speech. The game was cancelled due to lighting, but I knew then we had something special.”

Davis was a key member of the Bears offensive line in 2012 as his team marched toward a second straight region title. Then crisis struck in the fourth game of the season when he tore an ACL. It happened on the Bears’ second drive of the game. Though out of commission, he chose not to have surgery until November due to the amount of school time he would have missed. Dr. Matt Valosen of the Bone and Joint Institute of South Georgia performed surgery and two weeks later Davis was already doing squats against the wall. He credits Lee Bishop and the professionals at Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Therapy in Waycross for helping him regain his range of motion.

Because of the risk of contracting an infection, Davis wasn’t permitted to work at a regular gym for several weeks. That’s when Brad, now the strength coach at Metter High, became a particularly valuable resource. “Brad has been a very influential person in my life,” Davis says. He got me on a workout plan, helping to get my weight up.”

Adds his mother: “Ben never complained about his knee injury. He worked extra hard to recuperate and get ready for his senior season. His teammates had his back literally. They met him at the front of school each morning to help him get out of the car and carried his backpack from class to class. One day he almost fell off the sidewalk when school was out. Blake Aldridge was right behind him and kept Ben upright.”

Academic offers to Davis come from the likes of Arizona State, Alabama, Central Florida, South Carolina, and Mississippi State. At the top of his wish list, however, is Florida State, his mother’s alma mater. She attended FSU in the 1980s, and was a member of the Golden Girls Dance Team. The Davis family has long since supported FSU and the boys have attended numerous football games since they were tots. While FSU has yet to make its offer, an offer is more likely to transpire along with numerous others if Davis is named a finalist for the National Merit Scholarship. “I’d like a more conservative campus,” Davis says. “The larger ones trend toward debauchery, but I’ll probably pick one with a good religious foundation that is also somewhat prestigious academically.”

Davis attends Emmanuel Baptist Church and his favorite charitable pursuits include Samaritan’s Purse, which coordinates “Operation Christmas Child” annually. He also supports the American Red Cross with regular blood donations. Quality time includes the company of friends and family, including grandmother Alpha Davis of Waycross. Davis also frequently joins teammate Mason Bodenhamer in playing guitar, a talent gleaned from Sybil Harrison, Mrs. Davis’s mother.

“God gives you talents and He gave Ben an abundance of intelligence,” says Burt Davis. “However, you have also got to work. I always tell Ben that it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. I have seen people who were intelligent who didn’t use it. Ben is not just a smart kid, he does the right thing. I thank the good Lord every night for what kind of kid he is.”

Davis’s Favorites
•    Authors: Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Tom Clancy
•    Music: Swing, Ska, Motown
•    TV channel: History Channel
•    TV programming: Jeopardy, WWE wrestling
•    Actor: Clint Eastwood

“Ben never answers ‘no’ to a question. In his mind, there is always a way to get it done.” – Coach Sean Pender