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The Lake Marion running back sprained his ankle in the team's season opener. And just last week, he injured his knee on the opposite leg.
"I'm not going to lie, I didn't know how much I'd get the ball tonight," Williams said.
As it turned out, a lot.
Williams carried 30 times for 215 yards, caught one pass for 6 yards and threw for 34 more, leading Lake Marion to a 12-7 win at Bluffton on Friday night, spoiling homecoming night for the Bobcats.
Nobody was more surprised about the production than Bluffton coach Jeremy West, who watched Williams do all of his damage while lining up at quarterback -- a change to the Gators offense that didn't appear in any film footage the Bobcats coaching staff analyzed during the week.
"That's the first time we'd seen that," West said. "Once we adjusted, we did a good job."
But that adjustment came one half too late for the Bobcats (2-4, 0-1 Region 8-AAA) in their region opener.
Lake Marion (2-4, 1-0) took its 12-7 lead on the first play of the second quarter with a Williams touchdown from 17 yards out. The 5-foot-7 senior tailback, who slipped through tackle after tackle in the Bluffton defense, gained 134 rushing yards in the half and also scored a touchdown on a 49-yard scamper in the first quarter.
"Too many missed tackles," West said.
The Bobcats did force four turnovers, but the offense -- which struggled to move the ball throughout the game -- didn't score any points off any of them.
Bluffton's running game accounted for just 13 yards. Zack Frazier, who compiled 590 yards in the first five contests, was held to minus 1 yard for the game, while Timmy Smith gained only 29. Each had nine carries.
"They had nine or 10 in the box," West said. "... With our two good running backs, people are going to do that. Until we throw the ball consistently and move the ball consistently through the air, we're going to have to work on our passing game to get people out of the box."
For a while, it looked as if Ryan Combs would provide that consistency. Combs, playing for the first time in four weeks, started 10-for-11 after replacing starter B.J. Kitty, who threw an interception on the first pass of the game.
Combs led the Bobcats to a touchdown on his first drive under center, finding Jordan Rodriguez in the left corner of the end zone for 16 yards to cap a 10-play, 73-yard drive. But that was the last of Bluffton's success moving the ball.
Combs completed only three of his final 10 attempts. He also threw an interception, one of four Bluffton turnovers on the night.
"We had some wasted opportunities on both sides of the ball," West said.
And they resulted in a missed opportunity to open region play with a win. The Bobcats will now try to end their four-game losing streak on the road. They'll travel to Stall and Battery Creek over the next two weeks.
"I don't think it puts us in any kind of a hole," Bluffton defensive end Ethan Green said. "As long as we put it behind us, we should be good. We just need to come out Monday working hard and just not let it affect us."
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total |
| Lake Marion | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Bluffton | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
First Quarter
LM--Nicholas Williams 49 run (pass failed), 8:07.
BLF--Jordan Rodriguez 16 from Ryan Combs (Rodriguez kick), 3:39.
Second Quarter
LM--Williams 17 run (run failed), 11:51.
| LAKE MARION | BLUFFTON | |
| First downs | 16 | 10 |
| Rush | 12 | 2 |
| Pass | 2 | 6 |
| Pen. | 2 | 2 |
| Rushes-yards | 42-264 | 29-13 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 4-11-1 | 13-24-2 |
| Passing yards | 54 | 144 |
| Return yards | 43 | 29 |
| Punts | 2-30.5 | 4-41.3 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 4-3 | 2-2 |
| Penalties-Yards | 8-76 | 3-15 |
| Third-down conv. | 3-11 | 1-8 |
| Fourth-down conv. | 1-2 | 1-4 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Lake Marion, Nicholas Wililams 30-215, Desmond Morton 8-48, Marcellus Tilly 2-5, Quentin Elmore 1-(minus 2), Chris Johnson 1-(minus 2). Bluffton, Timmy Smith 9-29, Andrew Nickerl 1-1, Zack Frazier 9-(minus 1), Ryan Combs 4-(minus 16).
PASSING--Lake Marion, Williams 2-4-1-34, Johnson 2-7-0-20. Bluffton, Ryan Combs 13-22-1-144, B.J. Kitty 0-2-1-0.
RECEIVING--Lake Marion, Nicholas Ravenell 1-18, Morton 1-16, Taiwan Elmore 1-14, Williams 1-6. Bluffton, Stephen Bradley 5-78, Jordan Rodriguez 2-29, Alfonza Powell 2-0, Brody Ringler 1-22, Travis Ramsey 1-11, Jordan Bryan 1-4, Desmond Jenkins 1-0.
MISSED FIELD GOALS--None.
