Williams makes the most of his chances

The stats show Red Bank's Keon Williams rushing for 1,157 yards in 12 games on 132 carries.

It's a poor reflection on what the senior runner has actually done.

"We have five or six games where he might have gotten a series in the second half and no more, and he sat out a couple of games with injuries," Red Bank coach Tim Daniels said.

There were no injuries to slow him down Friday and Williams rushed for 261 yards on 24 carries (10.9 per carry) and six touchdowns as Red Bank skated past Knox Fulton 55-22 and moved into the Class 4A state quarterfinals to host Greeneville. His efforts Friday earned Williams Times Free Press player of the week honors.

"He suffered a shoulder bruise against Hixson in the final game of the regular season and we held him out the first game of the playoffs," Daniels said. "Earlier in the year he had a sprain in the middle of his foot, which was quite painful to try and run on, so we held him out then also."

His per-game average is actually 115.7 yards. The per-carry average is 8.8 yards.

Williams was making up for lost time. A transfer from North Carolina who arrived at Red Bank in the summer before his junior year, Williams' eligibility was denied by the TSSAA despite numerous appeals filed on his behalf by the Red Bank staff. He practiced last year but was forced to do no more than watch varsity competition.

"The kid has gotten better as the season has progressed," Daniels said. "The first two or three weeks I think he was playing catch up. He was forcing things, trying to be a home run hitter every time."

The coach also indicated that Williams had improved as a pass-blocker and that he had taken his success with humility.

"He's a pretty humble character. He spreads the wealth and he is appreciative of the people that are blocking for him. It's a huge plus when he's in there but a lot of the credit should go to Tim Dews and Shammell Brummitt in addition to the offensive line, and Denzel Owens has played a lot less on offense this year than last but it's typical of this team. We have become very unselfish, which is a credit to the kids."