By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Williams made enough clutch plays, including a couple of defensive stops, to capture a 29-26 victory at Southern Alamance in Mid-Carolina Conference football Friday night.
“It was ups and downs,” Williams receiver Christian Booth said. “But we pulled this one out.”
Akireon Robertson ran for two second-half touchdowns and Robbie Davis ran for a touchdown and threw for another for Williams (4-0 overall, 2-0 Mid-Carolina Conference).
The Bulldogs recovered two second-half fumbles in their own territory.
“It was hard,” Booth said. “Our defense stepped up.”
Sincere Thompson rushed for two touchdowns and 206 yards on 27 carries for Southern (4-2, 1-2).
“This is a game we can learn from,” Southern coach Jonathan Hester said.
Both teams scored four touchdowns, with the difference stemming from point-after-touchdown plays.
“Game management is something we work on all the time,” Williams coach Patrick Stokes said. “It didn’t always work out, but we made some of those plays. I’m really proud of some of that execution.”
Davis accounted for about 140 yards combined on the ground and through the air.
Thompson’s 8-yard TD run two snaps after Southern’s fourth-and-1 pick-up gave the Patriots their second touchdown with 1:08 remaining in the first half.
The complexion of the game was altered when the Patriots lined up for a would-be tying extra-point kick. The referee informed the Patriots that kicker Chalino Garcia’s knee pads were too small, Hester said.
So with Garcia out of the game, the Patriots changed plans and failed to convert on a conversion run. Hester said Garcia was fitted with different knee pads to re-enter the game later.
Southern drove to the Williams 2-yard-line to open the second half, losing the ball on a fumble. The Bulldogs went 98 yards, scoring on Robertson’s 5-yard run. Following the touchdown, lineman Brycen Breeze lined up in the backfield and plowed in for the two-point conversion for a 22-13 lead.
Southern responded with a touchdown less than two minutes later on quarterback Tustin Johnson’s 5-yard run. The Patriots then had a two-point conversion run wiped out by a holding penalty – with a subsequent extra-point kick off the mark.
Davis was injured on a 15-yard run on the ensuing possession, but backup quarterback Jackson Gould took the controls and the Bulldogs, two plays after a roughing-the-passer penalty, were in the end zone on Robertson’s 6-yard run. They then opted for Matty Poole’s extra-point boot with 39 seconds to go in the third quarter.
Southern was back in business on Thompson’s 1-yard TD plunge and Garcia’s kick with 8:04 left.
Williams marched into Southeast territory before Ian Burgess’ fourth-down interception of Gould at the Southern 25 with 3:03 to go.
Southern moved inside the Williams 40 for a first down before losing the ball on a fumble at the 1:05 mark, sealing the outcome.
“That (Southern team) is a tried and true team that has played in games like that,” Stokes said, “and we hadn’t.”
Earlier, there was major contrast. Williams took the game’s opening possession and needed less than a minute to go 54 yards, with Davis scoring on a 17-yard run – with many fans still lined up outside the gates waiting to get in.
Then Southern consumed more than 10 minutes using 15 plays to cover 82 yards, with Johnson throwing 27 yards to Garrett Ledbetter on a fourth-down snap for a touchdown.
- Southeast Alamance 50, Western Alamance 22: At Haw River, the host Stallions pulled away for the Mid-Carolina Conference victory, avenging a loss from last year.
The Stallions (7-0, 3-0) were in their regular-season home finale.
Western (4-2, 1-1) lost for the second week in a row.
- Eastern Alamance 59, Cummings 0: At Burlington, Hunter Eichmann caught three touchdown passes for the visiting Eagles.
Sammy Raphael scored on two rushing plays as part of the big night for Eastern (4-2, 2-1).
Braxton Ballard threw for three touchdowns, two of those to Eichmann and the other to Christopher Loy. Eichmann’s other scoring reception came from Kenyon Newell on a 23-yard play.
Jamez Cochran scored on a rushing play and a fumble return.
Eastern’s Jacob Currie intercepted two passes as the Eagles secured their third shutout in their last 10 games dating to last October.
Cummings fell to 1-5, 0-3.
