Prep Redzone Director of Scouting Nate Wahl could almost see Bryant Williams’ big game coming.
“I had a gut feeling when I watched Bryant Williams at Iowa 7 vs. 7 football all this summer that he would have a heck of a year,” Wahl posted on Twitter.
After missing all of last season, Williams netted 364 all-purpose yards, 224 on the ground on 19 carries to go with three touchdowns, to lead the Grayhounds past Washington 39-18 in their season opener at Bracewell Stadium.
Williams’ onslaught also included a 70-yard kick return for a score and a 56-yard pass for another.
Trailing 18-14 at halftime, Burlington called on their Williams early and often over the second half, outscoring Washington, one of the top Class 3A teams in the area last season 25-0 over the final two quarters.
"Holy cow, it's what we thought we had and now it's confirmed," Burlington coach Jim Krekel told The Hawk Eye. "We've just got a lot of athletic kids who are playmakers and it showed tonight. We're not perfect by any means. We had a few gaps. We had a couple scores we left out there that we weren't happy about, but in the locker room at halftime we just said everybody's got everybody's back. That's what happened in the second half."
Nolan Smith led the Grayhounds’ defense, which didn’t allow a score after the second quarter, with seven tackles.
"We knew they'd probably try to spread the ball out,” Krekel added. “We kind of expected it. We just didn't how we'd match up with their kids and we have to have a game to make that happen. I think now we have a pretty good measure of our kids.”
BHS will hit the road to play Keokuk this week.
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