Seniors Come Through Big-Time to Give Williamson a Senior Day Win
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
CAPP Academy | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
|
Williamson | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 12 |
Prior to the start of their final football game of the 2023 season Williamson took time to honor its 18 seniors and their family members in attendance, in what could be considered arguably the finest senior class in Williamson history. Those seniors then went out and laid stake to that claim, as they rallied Williamson late in the game to lead them to a 12-8 season ending win over CAPP Academy.
On a beautiful day for football, Williamson's play in the first half was anything but beautiful on the offensive side of things. They managed just six net yards of offense in the first quarter, while turning the ball over twice. The good news for Williamson was that their senior led defense was able to keep CAPP at bay through the first quarter.
CAPP got on the board first though to grab the lead at the 12:42 mark on a bit of a trick play. With quarterback Anthony Albanese lined up in the slot, he took a handoff from quarterback Jayden Lajara and then pulled up and threw a long pass to Anthony Seaman for a 52-yard scoring strike. They went for two and got it to go up 8-0.
Williamson's offensive struggles continued until the 4:51 mark of the of the second quarter when senior wide receiver turned quarterback Garrett Watkins found senior running back Nazaire Miller open down the right sideline, who then took it 80-yards for the touchdown. The play was the longest play from scrimmage for Williamson this season. The Mechanics attempt at a 2-point conversion failed and they trailed 8-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
While all 18 of Williamson's senior football players are to be considered heroes, none is more of a hero than senior defensive end Joe Kelly. The two-time Seaboard Conference Defensive MVP broke the school record to become the all-time leader in sacks. He need two sacks to do so, and he got both if the first quarter along! He needed the game with 2.5 sacks to set the Williamson record with 30 for his career.
One could also mention that Kelly had 7 tackles to once again lead the team, including two for loss. One could talk about his three hurries or the fact that he had a pass knockdown. While all of that is fantastic, no play by Kelly was bigger than his punt block with 3:51 remaining the game. CAPP was forced to punt and on that punt attempt, Kelly broke through and blocked it, giving Williamson's offense the ball at the CAPP 25. One play later, senior Kaleb Glynn, who did it all for Williamson on the day as a running back, pass catcher, punter and who was then pressed in to emergency quarterback duty, found senior Nazaire Miller open in the endzone for a go-ahead touchdown to put Williamson up 12-8 with 3:44 left in the game.
Williamson and CAAP contests always seem to go down to the wire and this one followed that suit. Anthony Albanese returned a short kick 28 yards to the Williamson 47-yard line. The Crusaders would then get as far as the Williamson 12, before an intentional grounding call gave them 3rd and 21 at the Williamson 23-yard line. The senior led defense then stepped up big twice to deny their opponent and come away with a thrilling 12-8 win.
"I'm just so thrilled four our seniors. We have had to battle adversity all season with injuries and we had to do so again today. Yet, as they have done for three year, this group of seniors stepped it up when we needed them to and somehow got us the win. I just cannot say enough about them," shared an ecstatic Williamson head coach Dan Drake.
"I have been around Williamson football for 35-years now," shared Williamson director of athletics Dale Plummer. "I've seen more Williamson football than anyone has and I have to tell you, the type of performance we saw by our seniors today is something I will never forget.
"Everyone knows Joe Kelly and all he has done, but you have Chris Sheffer with an injury where he could barely lift his arm, taping it up and going out there and delivering bone-jarring hits.
"You have Cole Hunter coming up huge yet again. You have Chris Meiklejohn who was all over the field, despite getting banged up. How about Garrett Watkins, the finest wide receiver in school history being forced to play quarterback yet again, and tossing an 80-yard touchdown pass. You then have Kaleb Glynn who has done a bit of everything this year, who had not played quarterback single play in three years prior to today, and all he does is throw the game winning touchdown pass!
"Then you have Nazaire Miller, who in my opinion, might be the finest all-around player in our 122-year football history. His stat line today? Twenty-five yards rushing, 108 yards receiving and two touchdowns and he also had a key 47-yard kick-off return!
"The hard-nosed play of fullback Nasir Bowman will long be remembered. You saw that today as he literally turned a 2-yard gain into a nine-yard gain while carrying half the CAPP defense with him!
"How about Tyler McLaughlin? He has been banged up this year but not only does he play well at linebacker, he also saw time at quarterback and his 38-ayrd punt helped pin CAPP back deep in their own territory late in the game, which led to the eventual punt block by us.
"You have guys like Brian Finley who moved to tackle this year for us and got named one of our captains during the season for his hard work and great leadership skills, giving it all he had today, as he has all year.
"Continuing on the offensive line, you have a guy like Jason Williams who is a starting guard, have to move to center today during the game on zero notice. His pass protection helped allow the winning touchdown pass to happen. Then you have Darren Garcia, who missed all of last year due to a medical condition, come in this year and start for us at guard and to fine job.
"How about Isaiah Bolden? This year was going to be his year until a shoulder injury derailed him for much of the season. He was out there today giving it his all. Isaiah Joubert? Can't say enough about him either. He has been battling injuries as well. After two years on the offensive line, he was starting for us at defensive tackle and all he did today was help out on the offensive line as well as the defensive line!
"Special teams are sometimes overlooked, but they are crucial to our success. All year long, starting tight end Seamus Dougherty has been busting a gut on special teams as well for us, and his hit today on special teams will not soon be forgotten!
"Sadly, James Williams couldn't be there today due to illness but he has been a trooper, returning kicks and doing whatever the staff has asked him to do. Ed Bombily was out there today and has a pass break-up for us early in the game. And you have to love a guy like Ricky Smith who played soccer his first two years but wanted to give football a try and came out for the team.
"The memories this class of seniors has given us truly will never be forgotten."
Speaking of memories being made, not lost in the euphoria of the win was the fact that Williamson defensive back Cooper Conroy tied the school record for interceptions in a single game with three, joining Jim Sharkey, Kevin Anderson and Jack Gibson as the others to do so. He also caught a pass for 14 yards and returned a punt for 19 yards on the day.
Perhaps an even more impressive statistic coming out of the game is the fact that with the win, Williamson now has had a winning season for five straight years, something that had not been achieved since 1979-83!
And so the 2023 season ends, but the memories this class brought to Williamson and the football program will surely never be forgotten.
The 18 senior football players honored prior to the game were as follows:
#8 Cole Hunter
#9 Joe Kelly
#11 Edward Bombily
#13 Seamus Dougherty
#20 James Williams
#24 Nasir Bowman
#36 Kaleb Glynn
#52 Isaiah Joubert
#54 Ricky Smith
#60 Jason Williams
#62 Brian Finley
#66 Isaiah Bolden
#74 Darren Garcia
