FOOTBALL: Leopards' Williams runs past Princeton

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on October 30, 2016 1:45 AM

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jhayes@newsargus.com

PRINCETON -- If anything, it was the Quamaine Williams show.

The plug-and-play junior was electric on Friday evening, mystifying onlookers with dagger-inspired plays all over the gridiron, propelling Lakewood to a dominant-in-all-phases, 48-14 triumph over Carolina 1-A foe Princeton at Harvey Brooks Field.

And his fireworks, which muted an excited Bulldog homecoming crowd, commenced early.

On its opening possession and in punt formation at midfield, Lakewood executed a letter-perfect bit of fakery that saw Williams pull the ball, dance through traffic and jet 52 yards to the barn for a 6-0 Leopard advantage.

Suffice to say, the early speed shuffle by No. 8 was a body blow to the Bulldogs.

"He's a playmaker for them," Princeton head coach Travis Gaster said. "As far as making people miss in space, spinning around, reversing field... he (does) that sort of thing."

Both teams traded down-and-distance for the balance of the first half, with Lakewood's rugged defensive outfit working hard to best the blue-and-gold's signature Wing-T rushing attack.

Until Williams struck again.

With five minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Leopards faked a reverse to the junior, who appeared to be pinned for a loss in the Lakewood backfield -- until he wasn't.

After stopping on a dime, he leapt backwards and sprinted toward the Princeton sideline, where he found enough balance to uncoil a 61-yard touchdown seed to Leopards' quarterback Zach Tanner, who secured the luggage and waltzed into the end zone.

Lakewood led 13-0 at the half.

The Leopards flexed their defensive muscle in the third quarter, loading the box and making life difficult for all-area rushing leaders Earl Gibson, Jr. and Matt Stallworth, who found northbound sledding difficult all evening.

"They were physical on the edge," Gaster noted. "(And) we didn't have any explosive plays... we lost focus, and I thought we gave up on some effort -- that's a gut-check we have to fix."

Lakewood managed the stanza's only scoring, when Tanner found wideout Camron Sessoms on a beautifully tossed fade with just over six minutes remaining. Following a successful PAT, the visitors marched to the final term with a commanding 20-0 advantage.

Princeton gathered its rushing attack over the final 12 minutes, showing character and mettle within its trademark system. The Bulldogs scored twice -- first on a 15-yard scamper by Gibson, Jr. and then on a bruising, six-yard effort by Stallworth with just under a minute remaining.

Which, of course, provided Williams just enough time for a proper curtain call.

Princeton lined up in onside formation and booted a bobbling, end-over-end number -- but allowed the speedster to cleanly field it at the 48-yard line. One cut later, Williams whistled untouched into the stadium's west end zone.

The Bulldogs tumbled to 4-5 overall and into a three-way tie atop the conference with Lakewood (6-3) and North Duplin. All three teams are 3-1 in league matters.

MEN OF STEEL

* Princeton's Earl Gibson Jr. and Matt Stallworth took a pounding from Lakewood's front seven all night, but ran with enough character to stockpile 234 hashmarks and two touchdowns -- a gallant effort.

PICK-ME-UP

* Lakewood's Akili Underwood secured a touchdown for the Leopards' defensive caucus Friday night, scooping a fourth quarter Princeton fumble and scampering 28 yards to the house. He was joined in the silent hero category by running back Carsell Bennett, who rushed nine times for 67 yards and a touchdown.

BLUE-GOLD NOTES

* In addition to standard fight song fare, the Princeton Band delivered an epic homecoming performance, including remixed versions of The Jackson Five' "I'll Be There" and a stone-dead rendering of "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes. Incredible.

WHO'S GOT NEXT

* Lakewood entertains struggling Hobbton next Friday, which stands just 1-9 on the season. The Bulldogs will attempt to right the ship versus neighboring rival Rosewood at venerable Branch Pope Field.