MILLERSBURG – Sam Williams-Dixon accounted for nearly 400 yards and seven touchdowns on Friday night as West Holmes downed visiting St. Marys 56-21 in D4R14 playoff action.
Williams-Dixon kicked off the scoring for the Knights (12-0) on their first play from scrimmage as he raced through the St. Marys defense for a 65-yard score, his 26th of the year to put his team on top 7-0.
Aiden Hinkle led off the Roughriders second possession of the game with a 10-yard run that vaulted his career total to 3,168 yards, a total that moved him into eighth all-time in career yards past Scott Schlosser (3,162), and Ron Keith (3,163).
Hinkle, Dominik Osborne, and Colton Mabry moved the blue and gold down the field and into scoring position where Hinkle notched his 26th touchdown with 5:11 remaining to cut the deficit to 7-6. Kicker Logan Rush’s extra point attempt sailed left of the uprights to keep the Knights on top by a point on the ensuing try.
West Holmes, the highest scoring offense in the state of Ohio utilized just four plays on their next drive to travel 70 yards as a toss from record setting quarterback Mason Wolfe traveled 38 yards to Nate Fair to run the lead to 14-6.
Classic St. Marys offense helped to tie the score at 14-14 on the third Rider drive of the evening and ended with Hinkle’s second of the night and what would be the last of his 49 career scores. Hinkle ended the opening 12 minutes of play with 116 yards and a touchdown on eight carries behind an offensive line who provided him big holes to run through.
Tied at 14-14 and with just outside of 10 minutes before halftime the Knights offensive unit picked up a pair of first downs on long pass plays and found themselves deep in Roughrider territory before the second Williams-Dixon rushing score of the evening propped the lead back to seven for the hosts.
Twelve plays and nearly seven minutes of game time melted off of the clock for St. Marys on their next offensive drive. Senior Brayden Sullivan broke free on a pair of runs, including his longest run of the season, a 32-yard effort to help the Riders set up shop inside the redzone. Colton Mabry caught the Knights defense off guard with 1:38 left in the second as he walked in from four yards out to tie up the contest at 21-21.
St. Marys kickoff sailed deep into the Millersburg night but unfortunately into the waiting arms of Williams-Dixon who showed off his elite speed and cutting ability as he raced up field through would be tacklers to put the Knights back on top 28-21.
Set up by a Roughrider penalty on the touchdown, West Holmes attempted and successfully recovered an onside kick at the St. Marys 47 and quickly moved into a 13 point lead as Williams-Dixon jaunted in from four yards out to run the lead for the final of 13 unanswered points in just :58 of game action.
Drawing interest from nearly every major conference and team in the country, Williams-Dixon wasted no time shining in the opening moments of the second half as he returned the opening kickoff nearly 75 yards and finished off a 41-21 lead just two plays later with a 12-yard touchdown run.
Though the Riders were able to move the ball and pick up a fourth down conversion on a 15-yard run by Jacob Kessler, they would be forced to hand it over to the Knights on a turnover on downs.
Quarterback Mason Wolfe added his second toss of the evening for a score on the next drive, adding to his school record of 39 this season as he connected on a screen pass to Williams-Dixon for a 32 yard hookup and a 49-21 lead.
St. Marys 11 play drive moved the sticks from their own seven to the opposite side of the field on runs by Hinkle, Sullivan, and the first carry by Keegan Sharpe but ended as a fourth down toss from Carter Steinberg was intercepted by Kyle Maltarich at the West Holmes 27.
The final score of the evening came again from Williams-Dixon who capped off his 12 carry, 186 yard, five touchdown evening with an eight yard romp that set in motion the 12th running clock of the season for West Holmes and secured a 56-21 victory.
West Holmes (12-0), champions of the OCC will take on Van Wert (11-1) next weekend at a site to be determined as the Cougars downed Sandusky Perkins 29-22 to advance.
Mason Wolfe ended the evening 10/12 for 177 yards and a pair of scores while Williams-Dixon caught one pass for a 32-yard score to go along with 186 on the ground. Nate Fair paced the receivers with 97 yards and a score on four receptions.
St. Marys (9-3) ran 52 times for 299 yards and were led by Hinkle (149 yards on 22 carries, 2 touchdowns) and Brayden Sullivan (80 yards on 11 carries) in their last game as a Roughrider.
Unofficially Hinkle’s senior season will see him end with 3,307 yards, the seventh best total in school history. Additionally Hinkle’s senior season of 1,777 surpasses Sean Perry’s 2018 total of 1,664 for fourth place in a single campaign.