It was déjà vu all over again for the Williamsburg football team in its game Friday night against the visiting Harlan Green Dragons.
After scoring 36 straight points in the first half of a lopsided victory last week over Middlesboro, Williamsburg again lit up the scoreboard during the opening two quarters en route to a 38-0 district victory. The win clinched the district title for the Jackets after watching Middlesboro end their string of seven straight championships last fall.
Senior quarterback Nate Goodin amassed 256 yards of total offense during the first half. The performance by Goodin resulted in three rushing touchdowns, another TD via the air and a successful two-point conversion run for good measure.
In contrast, Harlan collected just 19 yards of total offense during the first two quarters. Of the Green Dragons’ 22 offensive plays from scrimmage, 13 snaps resulted in either zero, or lost yardage.
Williamsburg wasted precious little time to establish its offensive prowess.
After winning the coin toss and electing to receive, Goodin triggered a four-play drive that spanned 66 yards and resulted in a 17-yard scoring run by sophomore Eli Meadors.
Harlan was forced to punt on its first possession of the game, setting up the Yellow Jackets offense at the Green Dragons 42-yard line.
Goodin’s 31-yard run on the second play of the drive pushed Williamsburg to the Harlan 11, and Goodin connected with sophomore Chase Meddles on the ensuing play to make it 14-0.
Led by sophomore Jonah Sharp, Harlan pushed the football inside the Williamsburg 30-yard line on its ensuing possession, but the drive stalled at the 26.
Back came Goodin and the Yellow Jackets.
Goodin’s 18-yard completion to freshman Lane Jeffries pushed the ball to midfield, and two plays later Goodin ran straight up the middle for a 32-yard gain to the Green Dragons’ 2-yard line.
Goodin scored on the next play and added the conversion run to make it 22-0 with less than 30 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
Harlan junior quarterback Baylor Varner was injured on the first play of the second quarter and did not return to the game.
After missing last week’s game against Lynn Camp, senior Darius Akal returned for the Green Dragons and spelled Varner at the quarterback position.
Akal spearheaded another Harlan drive that pushed the Green Dragons inside the Williamsburg 35-yard line, but the march stalled at the 33.
Goodin and the Yellow Jackets needed just four plays to reach the end zone on their next possession, a drive that included a 51-yard pass completion to Meddles and a second straight rushing TD by Goodin, this time from five yards out.
After Harlan’s punt was partially blocked at the end of another stalled drive by the Green Dragons, Goodin triggered a nine-play drive that spanned 38 yards and was capped on his 7-yard TD run to make it 38-0 with 1:17 remaining in the first half and starting the running scoreboard clock.
Harlan put together its most productive march of the game to open the third quarter. Three straight runs by Sharp doubled the Green Dragons’ total offensive yardage, and two 15-yard penalties whistled against Williamsburg pushed the visitors inside the red zone for the first time.
Facing a third-and-two situation at the Williamsburg 5-yard line, Harlan was thwarted on consecutive plays and turned the ball over on downs.
The two teams traded lost fumbles during the fourth quarter, with a recovery by Harlan sophomore Donovan Clark accounting for one of the few Green Dragons highlights of the night.
Sharp rushed for a team-high 60 yards on 22 carries, but Harlan finished with a net 63 yards on the ground and zero yards through the air.
Goodin rushed for a game-high 102 yards on 10 first-half carries and completed seven of his 10 pass attempts for another 154 yards.
Meadors chipped in with 50 rushing yards on six first-half carries and the Yellow Jackets rolled up 348 yards of total offense to improve to 6-1.
Harlan (2-7) caps its regular season Friday with a road game at South Laurel, while Williamsburg takes a five-game winning streak into its regular season finale at home against Perry Central. The Dragons will play at Hazard on Nov. 8 in the first round of the Class A playoffs.