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Williams runs wild, Barron tops Estero
By
Dana Oppedisano (
Contact)
Saturday, August 19, 2006
You can bet that at some point during 2006, teams will force Matt Clements, the freakish athlete and converted receiver, to beat them with his arm.
You can also be sure, though, there will be plenty of nights like Friday’s exhibition against Estero, when the new Barron Collier quarterback won’t have to.
Tailback Greg Williams overshadowed his teammate’s debut under center, running for 146 yards and two touchdowns in about a quarter-a-half, pacing the Cougars to a 41-9 breeze over the visiting Wildcats.
The senior, who ran for 1,241 yards and 15 touchdowns for the 6-5 Cougars last season, both sped around end and bulled up the middle for a gaudy 18.2 yards per carry. In fact, his only runs shorter than 11 yards were a four-yard draw on his third carry and his first touchdown, a 3-yarder up the middle that gave Barron a 14-3 first quarter lead. He reeled off runs of 26, 19 and 24 yards, then added a 45-yard scoring jaunt down the right sideline to close his night with 11 minutes left in the first half.
Those numbers were fairly indicative of the first-team Cougar offense’s night as a whole.
In fact, for the first eight minutes and 24 in real time, it appeared as though only an act of God could have stopped Barron Collier’s ground game.
Then, sure enough, it did.
The Cougars were averaging 12 yards per snap, with Williams and Clements teaming for all 85 on an opening touchdown march when the first crack of lightning above campus turned the bleachers into potential conduits.
The 1-hour, 16-minute delay did little to dampen that momentum, though, as the hosts scored on their next four possessions (Williams’ runs, a 1-yard dive by Dennis Vinson and a 10-yard run by backup Mauro Candoli) to open a 35-3 halftime lead.
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He ran for 12 yards on a bootleg around the left side on his first carry, then took his second and final tote 10 yards over the opposite end for the game’s first score in his maiden drive.
Even on plays that won’t make a box score, Clements displayed an athleticism and awareness that suggests an easy transition. He spun to see an empty backfield on a play negated by an illegal motion penalty with 7:25 in the first, and without hesitation bounced over the right side and into a sea of oncoming Wildcats. A spin and shoulder dip later, he was pushed out of bounds, and though it didn’t count toward the stats, the early outside runs put the ‘Cats on their heels as Williams took a delayed draw up the middle for 19 yards on the ensuing play.
He completed 2-of-4 passes for 25 yards, but overthrew a wide open John Casselbury over the middle on his first try, then watched Casselbury drop his last attempt with open yards ahead of the sophomore receiver on his last.
Estero, playing with an all-new offensive line and without its leading rusher from a year ago, likewise started in style before fizzling against the Barron defense. Caleb Nemitz (1-of-2) hit Chris Ferriera down the right side for all 60 of his passing yards on the game’s first play from scrimmage, then the Estero starters added 80 on the ground for a 228-140 deficit at the half.
Tim Shelley (41 yards) and Alex Lozada (51), who had a 7-yard fourth quarter touchdown run, provided the occasional spark for the Estero ground game, which lost bulling fullback Scott Lewis to an injury with nine minutes left.
Barron Collier opens the regular season at home on Friday against Lely, while the Wildcats kickoff 2006 against second-year rival South Fort Myers.
Linescore:
Estero: 3 - 0 - 0 - 6 — 9
Barron Collier: 21 - 14 - 6 - 0 — 41
- - -
Scoring:
E — Klusacek 50 field goal
BC — Clements 10 run (kick failed)
BC — Williams 3 run (Clements run)
BC — Williams 45 run (Vegara kick)
BC — Vinson 1 run (Vegara kick)
BC — Candoli 10 run (Vegara kick)
BC — Lawson 65 pass from Stephenson (kick failed)
E — Lozada 7 run (kick blocked)