Big Plays Doom Mechanics in Loss

When Williamson lost starting quarterback Tanner Underwood to a knee injury during earlier in the week, they knew the odds were stacked against them in their upcoming battle with Showtime Prep.  Despite that, the Mechanics still made a game of it, and still were in the game until late before eventually falling to the Silverbacks, 26-10.

The biggest difference in the game was big plays. Showtime has three scoring plays of over forty yards, while Williamson's longest play from scrimmage was a 26-yard run on a fake punt.  Try as they may, Williamson was simply not able to overcome those big plays, as they dropped to 3-3 on the year.

The first big play for Showtime Prep came on a 60-yard touchdown pass from Yianni Carey to Far'd Miles at the 7:23 mark of the first quarter that put them up, 6-0.  They attempted a 2-point conversion, one of their four attempts of such on the day, all of which failed.

Williamson got on the board at the 6:31 mark of the second quarter, as their defense converged on quarterback Ja'Marion Johnson in the Silverbacks' end zone for force a safety and pull them to within 6-2 at the break.

The third quarter is when Showtime started to pull away.  They first scored at the 8:06 mark on a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown by Brandon Taylor.  They followed that up with a 53-yard run by Far'd Miles for a TD with 2:01 left in the quarter to make the score 18-2 heading into the fourth stanza.

Showtime Prep got a safety of their own to open the fourth quarter to go up 20-2 at the 13:52 mark.  Williamson though, came right back with a score of their own by their defense, as Joe Kelly recovered a muffed punt and went one yard in for a touchdown.  Matteo McLean hauled in the two-point conversion from Garrett Watkins and Williamson was back in it, 20-10.

Unfortunately for Williamson, that was a close as they would get, as the Silverbacks would ice the game at the 6:55 mark of the fourth.  Brandon Taylor would add a second score, this time on a 24-yard pass from Carey, to close out the scoring and make the final 26-10.

"It is tough when you lose your starting quarterback on short notice, just as he was coming into his  own, and you have to move perhaps the greatest wide receiver in school history to that position.  Throw in our starting center being out and the odds were stacked against us," said Williamson head coach Dan Drake.

"I am not making excuses.  Showtime was a very good team.  The reality of the situation is we simply were behind the eight-ball due to injuries before the game even started."

While Williamson could not get anything going through the air, they did have some success on the ground.  Nazaire Miller had 86 yards rushing on 16 carries, while Nasir Bowman added 49 more.  Kaleb Glynn also had 24 yards on the ground.

Defensively, Joe Kelly had another monster game for the Mechanics, as he had 12 tackles, including one for loss, 1.5 sacks, a fumble recovery and return for a touchdown, and three hurries.  Cole Hunter had six tackles, including one for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and two hurries.  Dominic Gallo added eight tackles, while Cooper Conroy and Kelly Battis each intercepted passes.  Conroy also added three pass break-ups.

Williamson will close out it's 2023 campaign at home next weekend against CAPP Academy. That day is Senior Day.  Williamson will honor sixteen seniors and their families starting at 11:40 A.M.