Williamsburg jumped out to an early lead Friday night against Lynn Camp. At the end of the first quarter, the Yellow Jackets led 48-0.
Lynn Camp struggled to move the ball. To complicate matters, junior quarterback Conner Mabe was injured with 10:36 left to play in the first quarter. He left the game for several minutes, but he eventually returned. He would go on to score the teams sole touchdown in the third quarter.
Beginning with the second quarter, the quarters were shortened to eight minutes. That was in addition to a running clock.
With 2:20 to play before half-time, Williamsburg would extend its lead to 54-0.
Williamsburg would go on to add its final two points on a safety in the fourth quarter bringing the final score to 56-6.
Lynn Camp Head Coach Allen Mitchell was candid after the game saying, “We just didn’t practice well.”
Mitchell’s squad was coming off its open week headed into Friday night’s game.
“Our guys, we’re still young, and just taking that ownership and that responsibility, to come to practice every day and ready to go, and, you know, us coaches, again, we still got to find buttons to push with these younger guys to kind of help try to motivate them about the importance of all the little things,” said Mitchell.
The Wildcats rushed the ball for 53 yards. Sophomore Christian Hart led the team with 46 yards.
Mitchell’s team logged 18 tackles during the contest. Hart again led the way with six total tackles including five solo.
In contrast, Williamsburg’s Reece Hatcher threw for 179 yards and the team rushed for another 85.
“The kids played really well,” said Williamsburg Head Coach Jerry Herron. “[We] had a lot of kids make a lot of plays.”
After gaining such a large lead in the first quarter, Williamsburg took the opportunity to give several of its younger players time on the field.
“We had a lot of kids that can make plays,” said Herron. “One thing that concerned us was our emotions got the best of us a few times. We got some penalties that we shouldn’t get.”
Lynn Camp will face Harlan on Friday. Of the two teams’ 66 meetings since 1944, Lynn Camp has defeated the Green Dragons 26 times. Most recently they defeated Harlan 34-6 last season at home.
Williamsburg faces Middlesboro on Friday at home.
Herron said his team has spent one year getting ready for this Friday.
“Last year, we dropped the game,” said Herron. “That’s something that stuck with us for a year and we’re getting ready for it, and you know, they’re coming to our place and we just got to handle the pressure and the excitement of a big game at home.”
The two teams have played each other 31 times since 1924. Williamsburg has won 11 of those meetings. Since 2021, Williamsburg has won every home game against Middlesboro.
