Williamsburg stays ‘Nick Strong’ after death of their teammate

Before the start of Friday’s second round playoff game, the Williamsburg Jackets held a moment of silence in honor of sophomore football player Nick Rainwater, who died on Nov. 1 at the University of Kentucky Medical Center following a long illness.

During their first game after the death of teammate Nick Rainwater Friday night, the Williamsburg Jackets won 49-13 over Pineville.

The Jacket players then ran through a paper sign with the words “Nick Strong Our District #6 Jacket Strong” as they took the field to start the game.

“We have dedicated everything to him. Everything we say is Nick Strong. He is on our mind and will never go away,” Williamsburg Head Coach Jerry Herron said after Friday’s game. “He gave us strength and everything tonight.”

While many teams might have been distracted playing with heavy hearts Friday, the Jackets responded with an overwhelming victory over the Pineville Mountain Lions by a score of 49-13.

“I thought we came out and played well early. We have a few miscues, but we really just played solid. Our offense clicked all but two drives. Our defense did really good. They gave up one score in the first half, and a little bit of a garbage score in the second half,” Herron said.

“I am really pleased with their performance. It was a big night. We won our district title. The kids played well. I am excited for where we are at.

The Jackets and the Mountain Lions traded touchdowns during their opening possessions of the game.

Then Williamsburg added two more touchdowns in the first quarter and an additional touchdown with seconds to go in the second quarter to take a 28-7 halftime lead.

Pineville received the kickoff to start the second half, but fumbled the ball away on its first play from scrimmage, which led to Williamsburg’s fifth touchdown of the night with 9:39 to go in the third quarter.

Pineville had a touchdown negated by a holding call on its next possession. After the ball went over to the Jackets on downs, Williamsburg added another touchdown with 7:38 to go in the third quarter putting the Jackets up 42-7.

The Mountain Lions scored their only other touchdown of the game with 2:13 to go in the third, but failed to convert the extra point. The Jackets responded with another touchdown less than a minute later with a successful extra point kick putting the Jackets up 48-13 and triggering a running clock for the rest of the game.

The Jackets finished the night with 232 yards rushing and 264 yards passing.

Starting quarterback Sydney Bowen completed 10 out of 20 passing attempts for 216 yards and five touchdown completions. Bowen added 10 rushing attempts for 45 yards.

Quarterback Nate Goodin added two passing attempts for two completions netting 48 yards.

Jayden Rainwater led the team in rushing with 101 rushing yards on five attempts with one touchdown. Marty Gilley contributed 85 yards on the ground in five rushing attempts.

Shannon Martin led the Jackets in receiving garnering 147 yards and three touchdowns on four pass receptions. Tanner Manus had two receptions for 48 yards. Rainwater had three receptions for 25 yards. Jordan Perkins and Bryson Potter each had one pass reception and one touchdown.

This was Williamsburg’s sixth consecutive district title in a row.

The Jackets will travel to Pikeville this Friday to take on the Panthers.

“They are well coached. They are a good football team. They are extremely fast. They are getting healthy. We have picked up a few injuries here and there,” Herron said.

Herron noted that one of the keys to beating Pikeville is handling the long road trip, which is nearly three hours.

“In the past we have not handled it well and we didn’t start well, and it got us behind early,” Herron said. “Everything we are doing this week is to prepare for the trip, and not be distracted and try to start the game well.”

Pikeville is 11-2 on the season, including two forfeits. Williamsburg is 8-3 on the season, including one forfeit.

The teams had one common opponent this season in Sayre.

Sayre traveled to Williamsburg on Oct. 1 to beat the Jackets 35-17.

The following week Sayre traveled to Pikeville where they lost 7-43.

According to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s statistics, Pikeville ranks third in class 1A football in terms of scoring margin with a 23.5 point margin of victory per game. The Panthers average scoring 32.6 points per game.

Pikeville ranks fourth in terms of rushing garnering 231 yards per game, and fourth in rushing defense only allowing an average of 101 yards per game. The Panthers average 127 yards passing per game, and average giving up 79 yards passing per game.

Williamsburg’s statistics are not included because the team missed more than one reporting period this season.