By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Once the Williams football team got rolling, Southern Alamance didn’t have enough answers in Friday night’s Central 3-A Conference opener.
The Bulldogs strung together touchdown drives on three consecutive possessions in the second half on the way to a 38-29 decision, knocking off the defending league champion Patriots.
Quarterback Dan Mahan threw for two first-down touchdowns, made a momentum-shifting long run in the waning seconds of the first half, and scored two second-half touchdown runs. He finished with 159 passing yards and 146 rushing yards.
“We’ve been told that these guys were tougher, that they’re a more conditioned team,” Mahan said. “We had something to prove.”
The Bulldogs (4-1 overall) were conference runners-up last year and they’re determined to move up a notch. This was a good start in that quest.
Southern (2-3) led in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs didn’t flinch. Facing critical snaps at several junctures, the rate of production soared for Williams.
“Our offense showed a tremendous amount of poise to continue to get first downs,” coach Patrick Stokes said.
Southern’s Drake Davis gained 90 rushing yards on 14 carries and Justin Donley had 81 yards on 21 ground attempts and 78 receiving yards on four catches.
Following a back-and-forth first half, the Bulldogs bottled up Southern’s rushing attack and let their offense convert for points.
“We came with a different mindset,” Williams running back Amarion Richmond said of the second half. “We went out and did what we do.”
Yet Southern seemed up to the task for much of the night.
“I think we both knew what was at stake in this game,” Southern’s Davis, a running back/linebacker, said of the teams.
Davis burst up the middle for a 44-yard touchdown run as the Patriots used about 4½ minutes to go 72 yards and take a third-quarter lead at 21-17.
Richmond went 33 yards on a third-down sweep to put the Bulldogs back ahead. Williams forced a punt and then drove down the field, with Mahan finishing a third-down 19-yard keeper in the end zone with 17 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs were up 38-21 after Mahan’s 2-yard run.
Facing that deficit, the Patriots couldn’t muster much of a response.
“It felt like the team died,” Davis said. “No motor, no energy.”
Donley’s 9-yard run and Davis’ two-point conversion run with 1:25 left completed the scoring.
Even minus late-game drama, there were signs that this was a true showdown.
“It kind of felt like that,” McCants said. “It kind of had a big-game energy to it.”
But in the second half, the Bulldogs pulled most of that to their side.
Some of that came in a sequence in the last minute of the first half. The Bulldogs looked to be running out the clock, but Mahan charged down the visiting sideline on an 81-yard sprint that would have been the last play of the half as he was pulled down by Tyler Carter at the Southern 11. But a penalty for a horse collar tackle – Mahan suggested later that was a fortunate flag for the Bulldogs on what appeared to be a legal tackle – gave Williams, which had taken possession with 31 seconds left at its own 4-yard line, an untimed down.
The Bulldogs benefited from that by going up 17-14 on Cole Brinskelle’s 22-yard field goal.
“I thought they were prepared for what we do,” first-year Southern coach Tony McCants said. “They took away a couple of plays that (had been working). They did a good job scheming us.”
The Patriots scored on Nathan McNeal’s 2-yard quarterback sneak to cap the game’s opening possession. The big play was Jacob Alexander’s third-down run of 30 yards.
The Bulldogs answered with Mahan’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Kyrian Fuller.
Williams stopped Southern’s fourth-down run on the first play of the second quarter, but didn’t cash in.
The Patriots drove 48 yards for the lead on Alexander’s 1-yard carry with 4:54 to play before halftime.
It was even again after Mahan threw to Andrews Cruz, who fought his way to reach the pylon on the left side to complete the 22-yard play with 3:08 to go in the half.
Western Alamance 24, Orange 3. Western Alamance’s football team won its fourth consecutive game, opening its Central 3-A Conference schedule by defeating host Orange 24-3 on Friday night in Hillsborough.
The Warriors (4-1 overall) had a variety of players involved in touchdown plays. Quarterback Ethan Oakley, who threw for 233 yards, connected with James Newton on a 13-yard touchdown play. Jayden Jones of Western had an interception.
Collin Moylan and Esiah Slade scored rushing touchdowns, while Jordan Hall gained 70 yards on 17 carries. Noah Barrett booted a 43-yard field goal, giving the Warriors a 17-7 halftime lead.
Orange (1-4) managed only 168 yards of total offense.
Southeast Alamance 29, North Moore 6: At Robbins, the Stallions (5-0, 3-0 Mid-Carolina Conference) pulled away after leading 14-6 at halftime for the road triumph.
North Moore (0-4, 0-2) led following an interception, scoring on Xavier Greene’s touchdown run. That was one of four first-half pick-offs for the Mustangs’ defense.
Cummings 41, Seaforth 20: At Pittsboro, the Cavaliers eclipsed the 40-point mark for the third week in a row on the way to the Md-Carolina Conference victory. The Cavaliers are 4-1, 3-0.
Seaforth fell to 1-2, 1-1.
Durham Riverside 53, Graham 13: At Durham, the Pirates (2-2) won for the second year in a row in this non-league matchup. Graham fell to 0-4.
