Liberty's Willie Williams scores three times in Lions' historic NCS win

Willie Williams scored on a kickoff return and a punt return in the first half to set up Liberty's first North Coast Section victory in school history, a 33-14 win over Amador Valley Saturday in a Division I first-round game.

Williams' two returns gave Liberty a 16-0 halftime lead. He then extended the Lions' lead to 23-0 early in the third quarter when he took a screen pass from Joseph Tolentino and shrugged off multiple Amador Valley defenders for a 38-yard touchdown.

The visiting Dons cut the deficit to 23-7 less than two minutes later when Ledre McCullough went 78 yards off-tackle for a touchdown. Liberty extended the lead back to 19 points before the end of the third quarter, however, on a Stirling Strong field goal.

Amador Valley made one last effort to cut into the lead when McCullough scored from 3 yards out early in the fourth quarter and Collin Miller recovered the ensuing onside kick, but the Lions defense held and Liberty was able to put the game away.

The Lions advance to the quarterfinals with the win and play next Saturday at fourth-seeded California.

Granada 55, Northgate 20: Rob Payne, playing offense for the first time this season, ran for 199 yards and four touchdowns on just 11 carries as the 10th-seeded Matadors (3-8) advanced to the Division II quarterfinals.

Payne, a starting defensive back, was pressed into service on offense because of injuries. He was stopped for no gain on his first carry, then went 44 yards on a sweep the next time he touched the ball, knotting the game at 7-all with 39 seconds left in the first quarter.

He scored on runs of 27 and 17 yards in the second quarter as visiting Granada built a 31-14 lead against Northgate (5-6).

Quarterback Brian Barnett also scored on a 60-yard run, and Matthew Dremelas kicked the first of his two field goals from 30 yards out, with 12 seconds left.

Payne scored for the fourth time, bolting for 55 yards on the second play of the third quarter.

Original post:

Liberty's Willie Williams scores three times in Lions' historic NCS win

Related Posts

Comments are closed.