Andro Williams snags 100th career win
It was not until after he was hit with a bucketful of ice water after his team’s 69-0 victory over McIntosh that Linden head coach Andro Williams realized what the celebration was all about.
What had been, in his mind another win over a Class 1A, Region 1 opponent, also stood as the 100th victory in the coaching career of Williams.
“I was familiar with that before the season started that, if we won our first two games, that we would be sitting there with an opportunity to get win 100 during that time. Since the beginning of the season, it has been so busy that I didn’t think about it until after the game. It was brought to my attention after the game was over,” Williams said of the moment. “We are blessed to have the opportunity. This is a tribute to the kids that are here now and those before to have an opportunity to get 100 wins at this point. It was a great thing and a good situation that kind of occurred for the most part. After the game, they loaded me down with water and ice. We had a good time with it and our kids did. I was proud of the opportunity. We thank God for the opportunity that we had a chance to win 100 games thus far.”
Linden clinched that mark in dominating fashion last Friday, hanging 28 points on the board in each of the game’s first two quarters before going to a six-minute clock for the third and fourth periods of play.
DeAntonio Williams scored on a 10-yard run to start the onslaught before Eric Jenkins caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from C.J Robinson to stretch the lead. Robinson then hit Dequan Charleston for a 30-yard scoring strike and Isiah Scott for a 40-yard end zone visit and the rout was on.
Williams then scored on a 20-yard run and Jenkins on a 45-yard sprint before Charles Blackmon punched it in from a yard out. Xavier McIntosh ran it in from 15 yards out to set the halftime advantage. Blackmon found the end zone again in the second half when he returned the opening kick 70 yards for a touchdown. Doug Johnson capped the scoring with a 55-yard touchdown run.
The Patriots amassed 341 yards rushing on only 14 carries in the victory.
DaVontae Poole led the defense with a pair of sacks. Johnson had five tackles and a sack. Roderick Dansby finished with four tackles and a sack. Charleston recorded an interception.
The milestone victory came in the 122nd game of Williams’ head coaching career, which started in Linden in 2007. The contest also marked the 38th shutout of Williams’ career and brought his record against region opponents to 57-4. Williams also holds a 22-9 playoff record.
“I know one thing that I can say, it has been very educational. Just being here and getting to know the people, some of the best people you can meet are here in Linden,” Williams said before turning his attention to the relationships with the young men he has coached through his first decade. “Some of the relationships that you make during the course of these 10 years have been tremendously special to me as far as that is concerned. The kids that go on out and are successful in one arena or another in life, that’s the part I’ve enjoyed.”
During the trek to his first 100 wins, Williams’s teams have lost 22 times, with only 12 of those losses coming against 1A foes and only three such setbacks occurring during the regular season.
Excluding the 2-0 forfeit win Linden received from John Essex in 2012, Williams’s Patriots have averaged 39.79 points per game to date while allowing only 11.5 points per contest.
Williams begins his march toward 200 when his team moves on to host Millry Friday night as it continues Region 1 play.