WHITEMARSH — Sterling Williams knew he threw two touchdown passes to Alex Linton. He knew his team rolled, 52-27. He knew they were district champions.
But picking two passes off? That, he was completely unaware of.
“What?’ Williams said postgame. “Just playing football.’
Delco Christian (9-2), behind Williams and its usual dominating run game, captured the District 1/12 sub-regional championship Monday night at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School with a destruction of Calvary Christian. The Knights’ senior quarterback had 77 yards passing and another 37 on the ground. There was nothing abnormal about that.
The defensive back skills were a different story.
“What the heck?’ said Linton, a senior fullback, yelling playfully at Williams. “He should’ve had three, that was awful. It landed right here.’
Williams came into the game with limited defensive statistics — just 12 tackles and one pass breakup. Coach Drew Pearson said he only wanted to use his signal caller sporadically as a two-way player, and with Calvary Christian’s athletic wide receiving corps, Monday night was the time to do it.
The results came quickly. His first interception led to his first touchdown pass to Linton. The second came at the end of the first half when Calvary Christian was driving, looking to cut it to a one-score game.
“He is a difference maker, he’s a difference maker,’ Pearson said. “He’s a gamer. He wants to be in there and he wants to make plays. I couldn’t be more proud of him. He’s battled injuries. He fought through a lot. He just wants to be out there.’
Williams was hurt last year when Delco Christian lost to Bristol in the district championship. He had surgery the day of the game and was stuck checking Twitter for updates.
This year, he played. This year, for the first time in school history, the Knights got over the hump.
It meant the world to Williams.
“This is the greatest day of my life,’ he said. “We’ve been working all four years for this. The coaching staff, all the players, this is the best group of guys I have ever known.’
With Delco Christian cruising, Williams was pulled from the game with about four minutes to go. He walked over to the sidelines amid applause from his teammates. The hugs followed.
After falling short last year without their leader, everyone knew what it meant this time around.
“It means the world to all of us, we’ve all come back from losing last year, just a chip on our shoulder,’ Linton said. “We never accepted defeat once we passed Bristol. Sterling played great, everyone played great.’
Lost in the shuffle was what Williams did with his arm. The Knights are not known for being a passing team — they had 13 attempts entering this game — but it’s something they have been working on as the year progressed.
Monday night, it became a true weapon.
“His legs and his athleticism really help us on the edge,’ Pearson said. “He’s getting better throwing the ball. What he was able to do there between running and throwing it, they really had to respect him.’
So will Piux X, the Knights’ opponent in the first round of the PIAA playoffs. That game will be Friday. It will be a short, short turnaround.
Williams is not concerned.
“We don’t care,’ he said. “We’d play them tonight if we needed to.’
