By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
PLYMOUTH — Warning to area football teams: If you thought all Plymouth could do is run then you better think again. The Vikings threw TD passes of 63, 69 and 77 yards in their 52-13 win over Williamston on Friday.
Oh, and Plymouth (8-0) can still run the football. Tobias Clagon and Andre Mitchell teamed up to lead the Vikings to 270 rushing yards on 27 attempts. Clagon was especially dangerous Friday night as he ripped off TD runs of 22 and 66 yards.
After the game Plymouth coach Robert Cody said he was impressed with the play of first-year quarterback Dasheen Perry.
Aside from his 5-6, 260-yard three TD performance, Perry also scrambled for a 42-yard TD in the third quarter.
Benefiting from his QB’s improvement and Cody’s play calling was wideout Angelo Sharpless who caught all three of Perry’s bombs. Sharpless displayed soft hands and the speedy wide receiver did a fantastic job getting yards after the catch.
Helping Perry, Sharpless and the Vikings’ running backs was the play of their offensive line. The Plymouth linemen played extremely physically and did a good job throughout the game.
The Vikings got on the board in the first quarter when they strung together a drive that ended with a Dwayne Brooks 1-yard TD run, and was followed by a two point conversion.
Williamston (5-3) answered back with a nice drive of its own. Tigers QB Jarrett Coffield led his team down field and set up an Emery Griggs 22-yard TD run, with a 50-yard completion.
The Vikings didn’t take long to extend their 8-6 lead. On the ensuing possession Plymouth handed the ball off to Clagon who turned on the jets and burned down the right sideline for a 66-yard TD run.
Clagon would score later in the quarter on a 22-yard run to enter the second quarter ahead 22-6.
The turning point in the game came in the second quarter when the Tigers pieced together a lengthy drive that started on their own 26, but ended at the Vikings’ 15-yard line.
On the strength of its running game, Williamston pushed the ball down to the 4-yard line, but penalties and solid Plymouth defense resulted in a turn over on downs.
Williamston coach Asim McGill said while his Tigers have come along way since last season, they still have little ways to go. After the game McGill credited Plymouth’s efforts.
McGill said his team will move on and looks forward to next week.
Williamston will take on Northside at home next Friday, while Plymouth will be at Camden.
Williamston Plymouth
18 First Downs 8
44-165 Rushes-Yards 27-270
289 Passing Yards 260
8-19-2 Pass-Comp-Int
3-26 Punting 0
2 Fumbles-Lost x
5-45 Penalties 10-95
Williamston 6 0 0 8 — 13
Plymouth 22 16 14 0 — 2
Scoring Summary
P — Dwayne Brooks 1 run (Tobias Clagon two points), 10:45, 1st.
W — Emery Griggs 22 run (two points failed) 9:46, 1st.
P — Clagon 66 run (two points failed), 9:22, 1st.
P — Clagon 22 run (Angelo Sharpless two points), 1:34, 1st.
P — Sharpless 77 pass from Dasheen Perry (Sharpless two points), 3:18, 2nd.
P — Perry 42 run (Perry two points), 41.8, 2nd.
P — Sharpless 63 pass from Perry (two points failed), 9:34, 3rd.
P — Sharpless 69 pass from Perry (Andre Mitchell two points), 5:31, 3rd.
W — Eric Smith 11 pass from Jarrett Coffield (Cody Speller kick), 10:28, 4th.