By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Williams didn’t allow Southern Alamance to sustain much excitement even after the Patriots had potential momentum-turning plays Friday night.
The Bulldogs were up to the task defensively and the offense eventually cranked out a heavy dose of key plays in a 48-7 triumph Friday night at Burlington Memorial Stadium.
“We adapted,” Williams linebacker Gavin Massai said. “We play like that every single game.”
Amarion Richmond, who gained 166 yards on 14 carries, and quarterback Kyrian Fuller, who collected 116 rushing yards, each ran for two touchdowns, and Clinton Ceasar returned an interception for a touchdown in the Mid-Carolina Conference game. Jazian Bigelow and Christian Booth also scored on touchdown runs.
While touchdown plays provided highlights for the host Bulldogs (5-1 overall, 3-0 Mid-Carolina), it was stingy defense that kept the Patriots (3-3, 2-1) in check. Southern managed 141 yards of total offense.
“Southern is very difficult to prepare for,” Williams coach Patrick Stokes said. “The task to diagnose the play and win the game in the trenches is a challenge.”
The Bulldogs were up to that. Williams’ second possession ended when Southern’s C.J. McAdoo made a long interception return to set up the Patriots at the Williams 35-yard line.
Nine plays later, Southern was denied when Kayden Simmons’ field goal attempt from 28 yards was wide left.
It took the Bulldogs seven plays to go 80 yards, with Richmond’s 51-yard dash coming a snap before his 2-yard TD run with 5:05 left in the first half.
Williams got the ball back with 2:42 to play and made efficient use of the clock on a 56-yard drive that concluded with Bigelow’s 2-yard run 7.6 seconds before halftime.
After Booth’s 7-yard TD run completed Williams’s first possession of the second half pushed the margin to 21-0, Southern’s Jayden Brown returned the kickoff about 80 yards to the Williams 15. The Patriots mustered only 5 yards before turning it over on downs.
“It just wasn’t our night,” Southern coach Jonathan Hester said. “Things didn’t quite work out for us. We can’t dwell on this.”
The Bulldogs marched 90 yards with Richmond scoring on a 25-yard run.
Southern’s Tustin Johnson scored on a 1-yard sneak with 8:03 to play. In the final 5:36, Fuller ran 37 yards to the end zone on a fourth-and-3 play and he added a 10-yard scoring run with 30 seconds left.
