Williams runs wild in Royals' road victory
LAKE FOREST -- After seeing its 21-point, second-half lead shrink to six midway through the fourth quarter, Larkin turned to its star running back Jalen Williams, who had already amassed over 250 rushing yards, with the hope of halting Lake Forest Academy's momentum.
Williams didn't disappoint.
He'd total a whopping 364 yards on the ground and lead the Royals to a 40-21 non-conference victory on Saturday. His output putting him in a tie for 49th all-time in IHSA history for single-game rushing totals.
From Larkin's 41-yard line, Williams took it 59 yards on four carries to put the Royals (3-1) ahead 34-21 with 4:43 remaining. His 23-yard touchdown run exhibited his dominance, as he dragged a Lake Forest Academy defender with him the last five yards and into the end zone.
"Everybody got on their toes," Williams said of the period just before the drive. "I got everybody calm in the huddle, like, 'We're not going to do what we did last week. We're going to take charge, get intensity and get the offense and defense going.' "
Added Larkin coach Matt Gehrig: "They had totally taken away the momentum. It was crucial for us to get back out and get our ground attack going to get the momentum back in our favor."
The senior wasn't done there, reeling off another 40 yards and adding another score soon after -- his fifth TD of the contest -- to etch his name in the IHSA record book.
His effort placed him second behind Vince Webber's Larkin school record of 388 rushing yards in September of 1996 against Rich East. Webber's yardage total puts him 23rd all-time in the IHSA. Williams' 38 carries also tied Webber for the most single-game carries in school history. Webber did it vs. St. Charles in 1996.
"I realized it in the third quarter when a teammate came up to me, like, 'You're over the 300 mark,' " Williams said. "I was like, 'What?' I was just out there worrying about the game."
Added Gehrig: "He played a very good game and what I was really impressed with by him was the second, third and fourth efforts to break tackles. A lot of heart and determination there."
Larkin put itself in a precarious position in the second half due in large part to three turnovers, 37 penalty yards and big plays by Lake Forest Academy (1-3). A 61-yard TD strike from Caxys quarterback Cole Moore to Myron Ford with 6:01 left in the third, followed by a 79-yard Moore interception return for a TD with 1:52 to go, cut the lead to 27-18. A 25-yard field goal just over 2½ minutes into the third made it a 27-21 game.
"They had a big, strong offensive line which kept our pass rush at bay and put a lot more pressure on our secondary and that really magnified any type of mistake," Gehrig said.
After surrendering a second-half lead to Lake Park last week, the Royals were wary of a repeat performance but buckled down. Of course, the outstanding play of Williams made keeping and expanding the lead a little easier.
"It's fun," said lineman Cody Schue, who blocked a PAT kick. "Fun to knock some people over and make some holes for him."
After a TD run put LFA up 6-0 with 5:31 to go in the first, Williams hit paydirt for his first score with a 25-yard run that put Larkin ahead 7-6.
A pair of Williams runs set up Larkin's next score just over two minutes into the third as Reid Ellis -- who was pointed out by Gehrig, along with Sylvester Smith for their blocking -- finished it off with a 10-yard TD run to the right.
A 20-yard TD scramble by Williams with 4:02 left in the half made it 20-6.
Williams notched his third TD with 6:19 left in the third on a 79-yard run up the gut that pushed the lead to 27-6.
Kyle Newquist threw for 40 yards on 3-for-7 passing with two interceptions for Larkin.
