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Williams' Isaiah McCambry, left, runs toward the Southern Alamance end zone as Jacod Addington pursues.
Times-News
Abby Gibbs / Times-News correspondent
MT. HERMON — Isaiah McCambry was feeling it on Saturday morning, so much so that he said he felt like he was “walking on air.”
Four rushing touchdowns from the junior running back propelled Williams High School to a 29-16 victory against host Southern Alamance in the completion of a Mid-Piedmont Conference game.
When the teams returned to field Saturday morning to finish the final three quarters after Friday night was washed out due to lightning and rain, McCambry was more than ready, crediting his new grey Nike Vapor cleats for his performance.
“I tried out these new cleats,” McCambry said. “I was just going crazy. The holes, the lineman, they blocked really well.”
It worked out for him to the tune of 194 rushing yards on 27 carries.
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Williams coach Jim McGill was excited about adding the transfer from Cedar Ridge before the season. McCambry turned out to be what McGill thought he could be.
“That kid’s a ball player,” McGill said. “He plays 95 percent of snaps, both sides of the ball, and he’s resilient. He practices as hard as he plays the games.”
The Bulldogs (2-4 overall, 2-4 Mid-Piedmont Conference) lost their first four games of the season, but pulled things together this week, winning both on Monday at Asheboro and Saturday’s game at Southern Alamance to finish with two victories.
“It's been a tremendously tough year, but this team finally put together a football team effort like we knew they could do,” McGill said. “They played hard all year. They've been resilient. Our season, 2-4, not close to where we wanted to be, but you know, those past two games we played, these kids have come together. They could have quit all year, they didn't quit.”
Williams mostly leaned on McCambry and the run game to find success at the end of the season.
“We relied on our offensive line to do what they’ve been doing a great job of,” McGill said. “We were able to spread it out here and there. Run game’s going, keep running. I think these kids realized they wanted to prove something. I know as a coach, I had something to prove, as well. Our kids had something to prove. We wanted to go out 2-0 with momentum going into this offseason.”
The Williams defense held Southern Alamance to one touchdown for the majority of the game, with one final Patriots touchdown coming after Williams was firmly in control.
“We’re a defensive team,” said McCambry, who also plays linebacker. “No team puts up more than 14 points on us. Our defense it locks down.”
The host Patriots (4-3, 3-3) entered the game needing a victory to have a shot at making the state playoffs as an at-large team.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt,” Southern Alamance coach Fritz Hessenthaler said. “There’s enough at-larges with two losses that we’ll be out of the picture. It’s a tough deal. Six seniors, one of them has been hurt all year, never played. Any time you end it with a loss, if you don’t win the state championship that’s basically what you do, it’s tough.”
Southern Alamance's Jacod Addington, left, is pulled down by Williams' Josiah Street.
Times-News
Abby Gibbs / Times-News correspondent
Senior quarterback David Hines scored on a 1-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and later hit Navaeh Gattis for a long touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter. Hines threw for 105 yards and gained 60 rushing yards on the ground.
Ultimately, the Patriots couldn’t find an answer to stop McCambry in the run game.
“I think we’re just a little bit young and probably a little bit overmatched (defensively),” Hessenthaler said. “We’ve got a freshman inside linebacker, a freshman nose guard and kind of sophomores all over the place. I’m not offering any excuses, they beat us physically with counter and power. And they’ve got an elusive back. That kid’s pretty good.”
Sophomore Nasir Price recorded an interception for the Williams defense.
David Kehrli is a sports reporter at the Burlington Times-News and USA Today Network. You can reach him at david.kehrli@thetimesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidKehrliTN. Subscribe to the Burlington Times-News here.
