Williamstown tops Shawnee in double overtime

For all the talk of wanting to be one of the big boys in South Jersey, the Williamstown High football team still lacked one very important ingredient before Friday night.

The Braves had talked for several seasons of wanting a tougher schedule, wanting a home game or two in the Group 4 playoffs and wanting to be recognized as a powerhouse program. Part of that wish came true with the inception of the West Jersey Football League this fall but, until Friday night, the Braves still lacked one thing to truly say they had arrived.

With a 27-21 double-overtime win over perennial powerhouse Shawnee, the Braves accomplished just that; they finally have that signature win.

"We faced a lot of adversity through this game and all week long," said Williamstown junior quarterback Dan Collins, who had a coming-out party of his own, engineering a big fourth-quarter drive that tied the game, 14-14, to send it into overtime. "We kept battling back and forth, back and forth.

"We wanted to play the big boys. We wanted to play the big schools. We said it all week during two-a-days in the summer. That's a big school and a great program and it took us like a half-an-hour to get through the handshake line. We beat a big school."

Williamstown (6-1), ranked No. 7 in the Daily News Top 10, struggled against No. 4 Shawnee early in the game as the Braves attempted to establish the run. Shawnee, meanwhile, pounded the ball behind sophomore running back Robby DiOrio, who had 39 carries for 199 yards and three touchdowns as he filled in for the injured Ed Royds.

Still, the Braves stayed close, down 14-6 with less than 5 minutes to play. They drove down the field and tied the score with 38 seconds left on a 2-yard run by Karl Johnson and a two-point completion from Collins to Cody Miller. Collins went 6-for-9 for 56 yards on the drive after going just 6-for-18 for 72 yards through the first 3 1/2 quarters.

"Just had to forget everything that had happened before that," Collins said.

After the teams exchanged touchdowns in the first overtime, Shawnee got the ball at the 25-yard line to open the second overtime. After DiOrio was stopped for no gain, Braves senior defensive back Bill Inge crashed the backfield from the left side of the defense and sacked Shawnee's Will Stiles for an 8-yard loss. On the next play, Inge again went after Stiles and created movement on the Shawnee line for a 5-yard penalty. The senior got in the backfield again on third down and forced an incompletion that set up a 55-yard field goal attempt by Austin O'Brien, which fell short.

"That made the game," Inge said. "It also helped that our offense found a rhythm and was able to score."

On Williamstown's possession, the Braves kept it simple as Johnson, who scored all four touchdowns, carried the ball seven times for 25 yards and the game-ending 1-yard run.

"Our players played as hard as they could," Shawnee coach Tim Gushue said. "I'm proud of them. We lost to a really good football team and, hey, like I said to some of the kids up front, maybe we'll see them in the playoffs."

Williamstown wouldn't have it any other way now that it has truly arrived. *

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