DRAGON SLAYERS

 Williamsburg, known for its passing attack, turned the tables on the Harlan Green Dragons Friday night rushing the football for 220 yards in a 32-14 win.

While rolling up 388 yards of total offense the Yellow Jackets held the traditional hard-running Dragons to just 47 yards on the ground.

“We were determined in practice last week that we were going to stop the run,” said Williamsburg Coach Jerry Herron. “Coach Hatcher’s defense was phenomenal, I was so proud of the work they did last week. We spent a lot of time stopping the trap and doing some things with their counters. We did a really good job with that. I was very pleased with the effort they gave this week.”

“With that said, we did stop the run, but gave up some passing, but I felt if they were going to beat us, it was going to be from passing,” said Herron.

It was the Dragons passing that got Harlan in trouble and gave Williamsburg the field advantage.

After the first Williamsburg drive stalled at the 23-yard line of Harlan, Kevin Hoffman intercepted Dragons’ quarterback Ty Saragas on his first attempt of the game at the 26-yard line.

Williamsburg hit Cejay Jones on a 10-yard pass before the Jackets drew a five-yard penalty. Senior quarterback Ethan Powers scrambled on a second-and-15 to the Harlan four-yard line for the first down.

However, a five-yard penalty and a one-yard loss by Hoffman pushed the ball back to the 10-yard. On the ensuing play, Powers fumbled at the five-yard line and Harlan recovered. A three-and-out gave the ball back to the Yellow Jackets at the Harlan 43-yard after the punt and the third Williamsburg possession proved successful.

Powers hit J.P. Payne on a 27-yard pass play for the touchdown with 7.6 seconds left in the quarter. Payne was on the end of the PAT pass by Powers for the 8-0 lead.

Again the Williamsburg defense dug in and held the Dragons to eight yards before forcing Harlan to punt from the 49-yard line. Harlan pinned the Jackets back to the 17-yard line.

Williamsburg responded with an 11-play drive that covered 87 yards and ended with a three-yard run into the end zone by Powers with 5:07 in the half. Powers kept the ball and went into the end zone for the PAT and a 16-0 lead.

Harlan answered with a 12-play drive themselves to get on the scoreboard with :56 left in the half. Saragas connected with David Allen on a 27-yard pass for the touchdown. He found sophomore Dakota Morris in the end zone on the PAT, pulling the Dragons within 16-8.

The big play in the drive came when the Jackets let Harlan out of a fourth-and-seven situation. Hoffman had hit receiver Damarcus Williams on the previous play for a six-yard loss, but the Dragons came back with the same play on the opposite side of the field for a 12-yard catch and first down.

Williamsburg made good on their first possession of the second half with a 10-play drive that covered 85 yards to paydirt. Hoffman broke loose for a 54-yard run on the drive before being pulled down at the 11-yard line.

Three plays later Powers went around the corner for a one-yard touchdown. Hoffman added the PAT and Williamsburg led 24-8.

Harlan battled the Jackets and refused to quit. Williamsburg missed on an opportunity to score early in the fourth quarter when the Jackets drove to the three-yard line. A 16-yard run by Hoffman set up the Jackets at the six before Powers took the ball to the three-yard marker. But, a six-yard loss by Hoffman, an incomplete pass and a nine-yard sack to powers turned the ball over to Harlan with 9:43 left in the game.

The Dragons were able to put together an 11-play drive that saw Saragas score from nine yards out, but it took six minutes off the clock. Saragas missed on the conversion pass and left the Dragons facing a ten-point deficit.

Harlan tried the on-side kick, but Spencer Brown recovered for the Jackets. A holding penalty hurt the drive when Hoffman broke loose for a 62-yard run to the end zone and five plays later the Jackets faced a fourth-and-27 from their own 41.

Chris Lowrie delivered a low driving punt to sophomore Eric Young. Long snapper Cody Perkins took off with a head full of steam and delivered a vicious blow that sent Young back about five yards. He lost the ball and Perkins recovered at the five-yard line.

Williamsburg put the game away when Hoffman scored from five-yards out. Lowrie hit Payne on the conversion for the 32-14 score.

Powers finished the game hitting on 10 of 15 passes for 185 yards while Hoffman had 12 carries for 109 yards.

The Jackets will host Knox Central in their annual Alumni/Homecoming game Friday night.

Williamsburg 32, Harlan 14

Harlan             0   8   0   6- 14

Williamsburg   8   8   8   8- 32

W- J.P. Payne 27 pass from Ethan Powers (Payne pass from Powers)

W- Powers 3 run (Powers run)

H- David Allen 27 pass from Ty Saragas (Dakota Morris pass from Saragas)

W- Powers 1 run (Kevin Hoffman run)

H- Saragas 9 run (pass failed)

W- Kevin Hoffman 5 run (Payne pass from Chris Lowrie)