Lee Central's Williams leads team comeback on way to Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week

When Lee Central faced off with Hannah-Pamplico on Friday, they needed a spark. The Stallions trailed 25-7 one drive into the second half against the team that was ranked No. 6 in SCHSL 1A at the time.

Enter Shadrach Williams.

The LCHS linebacker-turned-running back was a menace. He only touched the ball on offense five times but scored four touchdowns. On defense, he was all over the field as he racked up 12 tackles and made 3.5 stops in the backfield along with a sack. With Williams leading the charge, Lee Central scored 32 unanswered points on their way to a 39-25 win. After running away with a victory, Williams added Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week honors to his resume.

"It's great. I like how they all came together as a collective to help me get this win," Williams said of the LCHS community that supported him on the way to the weekly honor.

Lee Central head coach Justin Danner stressed how important it is for a team's best players to shine on the biggest stage. Williams more than did that on both sides of the ball.

"We knew going into this football game that Hannah-Pamplico had a really tough run game. We knew that our linebackers had to play really well, and Shadrach definitely took that challenge on," Danner said. "In the second half, we were able to really feel his impact on both sides. He was making plays all over the place on the defense, and he was asking for the football. He was ready to go, and it really charged our guys to see the type of effort he was willing to put out there to help us get the win."

Williams piled up 52 yards on just five carries, and he found the end zone with different styles of runs. His last score was a 28-yard tote where he had to break free from tacklers for a long gain, while he added some critical short-yardage scores with hard-nosed running.

"He was just on fire. He came right out there, we blocked it up good, just like you draw it up, and he ran with a passion and didn't want to go down," Danner said. "Most of his runs were tackle-breaking runs. I thought he did a really good job of banging it in there."

The only question was how many times could Danner give him the football? Williams is a critical player in the heart of their defense, which is typically where he makes the most impact. But at a certain point, Danner had to decide that he gave Lee Central their best chance to win.

"He could easily be a kid that could start on both sides for us, but we have some kids who do a really nice job for us as well. We try to balance our roster to find out where we have our guys at on offense and defense and make the most out of it," Danner said. "In that scenario, he's a guy that can still be impactful on defense and get an opportunity on offense. When he got on offense, he really made the most of it."

Lee Central really started to find their offensive groove after halftime. While rushing lanes weren't perfect, Williams found enough room to run to help push the Stallions ahead.

"In the third quarter, we started moving the ball down the field more; we knew we had it, so we just kept going for it," Williams said. "Every time I touched the ball, I was just looking for the open lanes to go to. Usually, they weren't there, so I had to sidestep a few people just to get to where I'm going."

Defensively, the Stallions flipped a switch after the break. Hannah-Pamplico scored on their first drive of the half, but Lee Central pitched a shutout after that. While the touchdown numbers are gaudy, Danner thinks Williams made a bigger impact on defense. It doesn't matter how many points you score in a comeback attempt if you can't slow down the opposing offense.

"Coming out of the half, we didn't feel like we played our best football, and we talked about it not being about our opponent, but truly being about us," Danner said. "Our guys were challenged and took the challenge on, and he was one of the guys who wanted to show it through his play because he doesn't talk a whole lot. He came out and really made some big plugs for us on defense, and we were able to get the offense going.

"We really felt his energy; our kids went right back out on defense, and we got a big three-and-out. His energy was felt by all of our kids, on the field and on the sidelines, just playing with that kind of passion and showing guys that this is how you play Stallion football."

After taking down a ranked opponent, Lee Central has a new sense of confidence as they close our non-region play with Hardeeville on Friday before their bye week.

"We felt like we needed to get that win to push us on to the next game, so we can mentally prepare ourselves for after the bye week when region starts," he said. "Practice has been more fun. We've been talking a lot more and collaborating."