By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Williams and Southern Alamance football teams racked up large victories in their first games in the Class 6-A state playoffs Friday night.
After each received first-round byes in the East Region, they rolled in home games.
Williams posted a 49-14 victory against Franklinton at Burlington Memorial Stadium, while Southern Alamance overwhelmed Greenville Rose 55-36.
• Fifth-seeded Williams handled No. 12 seed Franklinton (8-4), winning its first home playoff outing for the third year in a row.
The Bulldogs (10-1) go to fourth-seeded Union Pines, which was a 35-0 winner against No. 13 seed Lee County, in the third round.
• Southern Alamance’s Sincere Thompson rushed for two touchdowns and 232 yards. He scored on runs of 1 and 14 yards.
Jacob Alexander had 105 yards on the ground as the Patriots (8-3), who held a 21-0 lead at one point and were up 38-14 at halftime, advanced to face third-seeded Middle Creek. Alexander had 7-yard and 1-yard TD runs.
Quarterback Tustin Johnson added touchdown runs from 4 and 1 yards out and Jayden Brown had a 94-yard scoring run.
Kayden Simmons added field goals from 30 and 29 yards away for the Patriots.
The teams combined to score 45 second-quarter points. Southern Alamance benefitted from three Greenville Rose turnovers in the first half.
No. 11 seed Greenville Rose finished 6-6.
Class 5-A
Eighth-seeded Southern Nash posted a 58-36 victory against ninth-seeded Southeast Alamance in the East Region game.
The Stallions finished the season with an 8-4 record. Southern Nash is 7-4.
Wilson Hunt 30, Eastern Alamance 28: At Wilson, top-seeded Wilson Hunt scored on a tiebreaking return of a fumble for a touchdown in the third quarter and went on to the East Region second-round triumph.
The 16th-seeded Eagles (5-7) never led, but they kept it close throughout most of the game with the aid of Samuel Raphael’s three touchdown runs.
Raphael and Daylin Ford scored on first-half touchdown runs. The score was knotted 14-14 at halftime.
After the turnover that led to Wilson Hunt (9-2) taking the lead, the Warriors tacked on another touchdown
But Raphael’s second touchdown of the game helped the Eagles pull within 27-21 with about four minutes remaining. A field goal for Wilson Hunt extended the lead before Raphael’s final TD with 1:45 to play.
