DIVISION III FOOTBALL Williams' 4 TDs power Bengals' win over Poland

Ray Williams rushed for 304 yards as Benedictine ousted Poland 28-14 in a regional quarterfinal.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BEDFORD -- The most prolific single-season scorer in Cleveland Benedictine history proved to be too much for a good Poland High football team.
Junior tailback Ray Williams scored his 31st, 32nd, 33rd and 34th touchdowns of the season Saturday in the Bengals' 28-14 victory over Poland in the Division III, Region 9 quarterfinal at Bedford's Bearcat Stadium.
Williams rushed for 304 yards on 33 carries to give him 2,619 in 11 games.
"He's obviously a great player," Poland coach Paul Hulea said. "He did a phenomenal job by playing big in a big game.
"But our kids kept bringing it, though. We've got nothing to be ashamed of," Hulea said. "The easy thing to do when it was 28-0 was to roll over.
"How many teams, I don't care at what level, just roll over? We scored two and our defense held," Hulea said. "It just shows the quality and character of the kids we have in Poland."
Top-seeded Benedictine (9-2) plays No. 4 Steubenville in a regional semifinal game Saturday. Poland's season ends at 7-4.
Clayton, Koval star
Bulldogs quarterback Sean Clayton ended his high school career by completing 14 of 24 passes for 178 yards. He scored the Bulldogs' second touchdown on a 9-yard run.
Clayton's short toss to split end David Koval resulted in a 73-yard touchdown, as the junior receiver out-raced the Bengals' secondary until he was caught from behind at the goal line.
"I had no idea he was behind me," said Koval, who caught eight passes for 123 yards. "It was a great hustle play."
Clayton was sacked five times by the surging Bengals' defense.
"Their D-line played tough," said Clayton, adding that the Poland offensive line made some successful adjustments after halftime. "You can say I was pressured a lot, but I made some mistakes back there, too."
Rates defense highly
Although the Bengals rushed for 347 yards on 47 tries, Williams rated the Poland defense "an 81/2" on a scale of 10 for defensive effort.
"They barely took a play off," said Williams, who said his strategy is to "always look for daylight and keep my feet moving."
Hulea said the one surprise Benedictine offered was a safety blitz by Williams.
"But we picked it up," Hulea noted. "Everything else they did we had seen on film."
Williams set up his first touchdown with a 35-yard burst up the middle to the Poland 20. Two plays later, Williams ran in from 12 yards out for the Bengals' 7-0 lead about four minutes into the game.
Quarterback Joe Laffney's one completed pass of the first half was to tight end Hunter Ward and covered 22 yards to the Poland 23.
Three more runs by Williams, including a 2-yard touchdown, put the Bengals ahead 14-0 with 1:03 to play before halftime.
The Bulldogs responded with their only scoring threat of the first half as Clayton hit Koval for a 32-yard gain to the Benedictine 30. But kicker Shawn O'Halloran's 37-yard field goal attempt landed short.
On the Bengals' opening drive of the second half, Benedictine marched 80 yards on eight plays, grabbing a 21-0 lead when Williams broke loose for a 46-yard touchdown. A three-and-out series for Poland gave the Bengals excellent field position at the Bulldogs' 42, setting up Williams' 12-yard score.
Hulea said Williams' success wasn't a matter of taking some licks.
"He's obviously tough, too, because we definitely hit him," Hulea said. "We gave him some shots, and he kept getting up and kept bringing it. And he was playing just as hard in the fourth [quarter] as he was in the first."
williams@vindy.com