That roar you heard coming from Ladd-Peebles Stadium
on Friday night was the Williamson Lions announcing
that they are for real.
Leonard Traywick ran for 200 yards and three
touchdowns and freshman quarterback Jamarcus Russell
completed 13 of 19 passes for 237 yards
and two more
scores as Williamson advanced to the third round of the
5A state playoffs with an impressive 41-21 win over Citronelle.
"Defensively, we came out flat and we always stress to
them, when one phase of the game is not working,
another phase has to step up," Williamson coach
Bobby
Parrish said. "We've been saying it all year, but
(Traywick) just proved tonight that he can really run the
football. And he's just a sophomore. With him and
Jamarcus both, we feel like we have
a good future ahead of us."
Williamson (8-4) will face Valley in the 5A quarterfinals
at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Citronelle ended its season at 6-6.
B.J. Turner ran for 129 yards and accounted for two
touchdowns, but the Wildcats simply couldn't keep up
with the faster Lions.
"We just can't match up with them speed-wise,"
Citronelle coach Tommy Ezell said. "They're just too fast for us."
The teams traded touchdowns in a high-scoring first
quarter. Citronelle got a 26-yard touchdown pass from
Allen West to Raymond Sullivan and a twisting,
tackle-breaking 64-yard scoring run from Turner, while
Williamson countered with touchdown runs of 27 and 44
yards by Traywick.
"We were happy we were tied, but we were scared
because we weren't slowing them down," Ezell said.
"We've played good defense all year and we just couldn't
stop them. You hate to rely on the big play."
The Lions took control in the second quarter, as Russell
capped an eight-play, 81-yard drive with a 40-yard
touchdown pass to Raphael Darrington on fourth-and-4.
Marcus Campbell then scooped up a fumble after a sack
by Franklin Turner and ran 35 yards for another
Williamson score and a 27-14 halftime lead.
"I think that was the turnaround," Parrish said, "the momentum-changer."
The Lions blew the game open on their first possession of
the second half, as Traywick capped a six-play, 69-yard
drive with his third touchdown, a 33-yard burst that gave
Williamson a 34-14 lead.
But Citronelle wasn't finished. Turner ripped off a
28-yard run and caught a 28-yard pass from West to help
the Wildcats drive from their own 29 to inside the Lion 10.
A penalty helped push the Wildcats into a fourth-and-goal
at the 10, but West found Turner again in the back of the end zone
with a 10-yard touchdown pass to cut the Lion lead to 34-21 with 3:11 left in the third.
The Lions put the Wildcats away for good with another
score in the fourth quarter, however. Williamson took
advantage of two 15-yard penalties against Citronelle to
get in position for Russell's 21-yard
touchdown pass to
Lacedric Browe with 6:37 to play.
"It feels good," Parrish said of advancing to the third
round in his first year at Williamson, which went 2-7 last
season. "But we're not satisfied. Once you get satisfied,
there's no place to go but down."
West, who left the game twice with a bruised shoulder
and bruised ribs, finished 8 of 16 for 115 yards and two
touchdowns. Turner was his favorite receiver, catching
five passes for 71 yards.
Darrington finished with five catches for 100 yards for
Williamson, which outgained Citronelle 523 yards to 249.
"Probably the biggest thing was when we lost the fumble
and went two scores down," Ezell said. "It's hard to
battle back from that big a deficit, as good as they are."
January 21, 2004
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