Mechanics Grind Out a Hard-Fought Win Over CAPP

Facing a driving rain at times throughout the game, Williamson was forced to take to the ground in their effort against CAPP Academy.  And take to the ground they did, as they rushed for 283 yards and three touchdowns in the home opening win against the Crusaders, 25-14.

The teams went back and forth in the first quarter before Williamson was finally able to get on the board on a nifty 36-yard touchdown run by Nazaire Miller.  The run capped a three play, 41-yard drive.  Garrett Watkins added the extra point and the Mechanics were up 7-0 after one quarter of play.

The Mechanics defense was stingy all day and forced three second quarter turnovers by the Crusaders.  Kesean Chambers interception late helped lead to a 22-yard field goal by Watkins with nine seconds left to put Williamson up 10-0 at half.

After a scoreless third quarter, things then heated up.  Ryhmir Carter picked off a pass for Williamson at the CAPP 28-yard line and returned it to the 8-yard line.  Two plays later, quarterback Tanner Underwood, who missed last week's game against Sussex due to illness, took it in from 3 yards out to put Williamson up 16-0.  On muffed extra point attempt, Cooper Conroy somehow found Kaleb Glynn in the end zone for the 2-point conversion to make it 18-0.

Anyone who knows anything about the CAPP program knows there is now way they were about to pack it in-and they showed just that, as Anthony Albanese took the ensuing kick-off and somehow tight-roped his way down the left sideline for a 70-yard kick-off return TD.  The two-point attempt was no good. 

Williamson's offense kept grinding out yardage on the ground, and they were finally able to score again on a 13 play, 78-yard drive that took over seven minutes to go up 25-6.  Kaleb Glynn capped things off with a 2-yard run, while Watkins added the extra point with just 1:42 left. 

CAPP then responded yet again, needing all of 30 seconds to get a touchdown of their own, with Rasheed Tuttles taking in in from nine yards out.  They added the two-point conversion, but their on-side kick attempt failed and Williamson was able to run out the clock. 

"In a game like this, we knew we would have to rely on our offensive line to help us grind things out, and they stepped up in a big way," shared head coach Dan Drake.   

Step up they did, as Williamson ran an astounding 67 plays to just 31 for CAPP.  They also more than doubled their time of possession as well, holding a 41:57 to 18:03 advantage.

The offensive line of Shaleel Nash, Jason Williams, Adam Simmins, Darren Garcia, Brian Finley, Kasim Cotton and David Pownell did a fantastic job of opening holes all game long for the Williamson running backs.  Nazaire Miller led the way with 142 yards on 24 carries, while Nasir Bowman added 61 yards.

Defensively, Cole Hunter had a huge game, as he had six tackles and two sacks.  Joe Kelly added six tackles, including two for loss, a sack, a fumble recovery and two hurries.  Kasean Chambers also stepped things up with five tackles and an interception. 

Next up for Williamson is Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, PA in a 1:00 P.M> start on September 30.