Williams' 303 yards propel Larkin past Streamwood

Jalen Williams' brother was pretty clear on what the Larkin running back should do once he got the ball.

Will Carter, who played in the Royals' backfield in 2006, told his younger brother to make a single cut and head up the field.

Williams, on his brother's advice, did just that for the tune of 303 yards on 25 carries to go along with 3 touchdowns on Friday night. Williams rushed for 285 yards by the end of the first half as Larkin downed Streamwood 47-6 for a homecoming Upstate Eight Conference victory.

"Last year, I was a little shaky," said Williams, who rushed for touchdowns of 65, 35 and 67 yards in the game and now has 1,315 rushing yards for the season. "(This year) I like making my cuts fast and hard. I just like stopping on the point. I don't slip too much."

Williams kept his footing on a slippery Memorial Field, but was aided from some run block support. Larkin coach Matt Gehrig said he wanted to keep play calling simple, which included several runs behind tight end Alex Wahl and tackle Cody Schue.

"The main thing that we wanted to do, especially with the field like this, is run basic plays," Gehrig said. "(Fullback Sylvester) Smith had a lot of key lead blocks."

Larkin (4-3, 1-3) kept things simple on defense as well. Streamwood (1-6, 0-5) was held to just 29 total yards in the game and finished rushing 18 times for minus 8 yards. The Royals recovered 2 fumbles and Lee Jackson and Matt Harris each picked off Streamwood quarterback Nick Pryor. The lone Sabres touchdown came when Matt Woods ran a kickoff back 85 yards as time expired in the first quarter and Larkin leading 20-0.

"You have to come out on a night like this and play football and we weren't," Sabres coach Cal Cummings said.

Larkin was able to keep its playoffs hopes alive with the victory, something that the Royals were well aware of early. Williams broke loose on a 65-yard touchdown run on the Royals' first offensive possession and scored on a 35-yard run with 2 seconds left in the first quarter.

Quarterback Kyle Newquist found Smith (18 carries, 122 yards) on a 16-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Both Newquist (16 yards) and Smith (58 yards) also ran in scoring plays, as did Gio Hernandez (8 yards) for the Royals, who finished with 469 yards on the ground.