Patriots hold off Athens in 1st round
HOMEWOOD – Homewood High School senior quarterback Larkin Williams could not have asked for a better gift on his 18th birthday.
Williams completed 15-of-19 passes for 141 yards and rushed for a touchdown in the Patriots’ 24-14 home win over Athens in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs on Friday. The Patriots (9-2) will travel to Gardendale for the second round next week, as the Rockets got past Fort Payne, 21-17.
“It’s the same scenario,” Williams said. “A tough team that’s not just going to lay down for you. Nobody is in the playoffs. They’re going to play hard and they’re not going to give up. We just have to go out and execute. Start like we did tonight, but keep that momentum going.”
Homewood head coach Ben Berguson was proud of the birthday boy.
“What a great birthday gift,” he said. “I thought he played a great game. He’s been hurt. He’s just such a gutsy guy. What a winner.”
Up 17-0 in the second quarter, the Patriots were cruising until Athens quarterback Logan Smothers engineered a six-play, 64-yard drive capped by his 11-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Scott. Athens (8-3) came out firing in the third quarter, going 65 yards in nine plays on a drive finished off by Jaelen Cates’ 14-yard touchdown run, cutting the deficit to 17-14.
That’s when Hansin Dalton, a freshman running back built like a tank, took over. He rushed six times for 37 yards and a 15-yard touchdown two Homewood drives later, giving the Patriots a 24-14 advantage with most of the fourth quarter to play.
The Homewood defense took it from there. Smothers completed 7-of-13 passes in the fourth quarter for 75 yards but constantly had to elude the Homewood front seven. The University of Nebraska commitment finished 16-of-27 for 171 yards and a touchdown. He lost a fumble on Athens’ last drive, recovered by Campbell Brabston of Homewood.
“Coming into it we knew he was going to be a good player,” said Homewood linebacker Crawford Doyle.
Homewood started fast out of the gate, scoring on its first drive, a 5-yard run by KeOnte Davis. His touchdown was set up by a 30-yard pass from Williams to Marcus McGhee on third-and-four. Lane Gilchrist kicked a 28-yard field goal late in the first quarter to put Homewood on top 10-0.
McGhee kept the next Patriots’ touchdown drive alive, too, hauling in a 12-yard pass on third-and-six to keep the sticks moving. A play later, Williams tossed out right to Pate Owen, who threw a laser across the middle to Trae Ausmer for 32 yards. Williams plunged forward for the 1-yard score a play later to put Homewood up 17-0.
“It’s such a game of momentum,” Berguson said. “When you’ve got two good football teams, momentum is everything. I thought we came out of the gate hitting on all cylinders tonight. Then they got a momentum swing right before half, but we were able to get that back in the third quarter. I thought our defense did a great job again tonight, and they really pressured the quarterback in the second half.”
For Homewood, Dalton finished with 74 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, all but three of those yards coming in the second half. At some point in the fourth quarter, the name from the back of his jersey was ripped. It is safe to say his name is known now.
“He really came up big,” Berguson said. “I was really proud of our offensive line. We came out and were able to run the ball and use a lot of clock in the second half.”
Homewood and Athens were two closely matched teams. Both were 8-2 and ranked Nos. 10 and 11, respectively. They averaged close to the same amount of points per game and points allowed per game. It came down to toughness.
“I thought for about 80 percent of that game we were the tougher team,” Williams said. “I’m super proud of my O line tonight.”
McGhee finished with 91 yards on five receptions. Trae Ausmer caught eight passes for 69 yards. Davis finished with 47 yards on 15 carries and a score.
Williams was proud of his defense, too.
“As easy as they made it look besides the 14 points and a few big plays, our defense played lights out,” he said. “It’s not easy to shut down a quarterback of that magnitude, who can really play and do everything. He’s a stud. I’m just really proud of my defense. We’ve got some guys banged up, but they played hard and made plays when they needed to.”
Berguson said the matchup with Athens was a good one.
“We’re playing good ball right now,” he said. “We’re playing good ball at the right time.”
Just one question from Homewood 24, Athens 14 remains. What did Williams request for his birthday?
“I told the guys, ‘I want you guys to go out and play your hardest and us get a W tonight, but I’ll take a Chick-fil-A gift card, too, something like that,” he said. “This is a good enough birthday present for me. I’m stoked.”
It was the Patriots’ pleasure.