Elco’s Jake Williams rushes for 251 yards in district win over Big Spring
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By John Walk — LNP/Lancasteronline
MYERSTOWN — After facing some issues in regards to team culture within his program in his first couple years as Elco football coach, Bob Miller in Year 3 began having his players read through a book together during the season.
Miller is now in Year 12. And this year’s book is “Wisdom of the Bullfrog.”’ It’s written by William McRaven, an admiral who spent 37 years as a Navy SEAL.
Miller said this week’s chapter, “talked about the best leaders are givers.”
The seventh-seeded Raiders gave a collective effort in a 34-7 District 3 Class 4A first round playoff win over No. 10 Big Spring (6-5) Friday night.
Elco will at Twin Valley next week in the quarterfinals.
The Elco defense faced a Big Spring rushing attack that came in averaging 226 yards a game and held the visiting Bulldogs to 65 yards on the ground. Raiders’ defensive back Jackson Conners also snagged an interception.
The Raider offense put together a dominant performance, steered by an O-line that again opened holes for prolific running back Jake Williams, who had 202 rushing yards and three touchdowns at halftime and finished with 251 yards.
Williams also went over 2,000 rushing yards for the season, continuing to add to the program’s single-season rushing record.
Elco (8-3) marched down the field on the game’s opening drive, needing less than three minutes to plow 73 yards on six run plays, four of them by Williams, who punched it home with an 8-yard score to go up 7-0.
“If we have all 11 on the field do their job at one time then we’ll make a play,” Elco center Tupac Vasquez-Disla said. “That’s Elco’s thing. Do your job the best you can every play.”
The Raiders had four times as many penalty yards as the Bulldogs. The only other Elco blemishes were two fumbles, but both of those were recovered by the Raiders. One of those was for a score when QB Steven Rosado (13 carries, 96 yards) unsuccessfully pitched to Williams on the left side and the ball hit the turf. Rosado scooped it up and scampered 22 yards for paydirt to make it 14-0.
Later, Big Spring finally got on the board with a 7-play, 68-yard scoring drive to cut the deficit to 21-7 in the second quarter.
Just when it seemed the Bulldogs finally found some footing, Elco scored on the next play from scrimmage when Williams took a handoff to the right side, didn’t see an opening, cut it back, bolted up the middle and broke several tackles en route to a 65-yard rushing score to make it 28-7 just before halftime.
As Miller told his players after Friday’s win, “There’s 48 more minutes ahead together.”
And another chapter.
“There’s 18 chapters,” Miller said. “We’re at chapter 13. If we finished with a state championship there’d be a chapter left.”
