O'Showen Williams leads high-powered Stratford against Mount de Sales

When O'Showen Williams first transferred to Stratford from FPD, the decision to play football was still up in the air.

Suffice to say that his decision to play has paid dividends for the Eagles' offense, as Williams has been the feature back for Stratford this season and not disappointed. This season, Williams has racked up 610 rushing yards on just 58 carries and accounted for seven touchdowns.

Williams, who was all over the field last week for Stratford in a win over Twiggs County, racking up 94 yards on seven carries with a touchdown rushing and another one receiving, will have to be every bit of productive once again Friday as the Eagles travel to Mount de Sales for a key GHSA Region 7A-A matchup.

"I feel like our team can compete with anybody right now," Williams said. "We have a lot of confidence, and a lot of it is because of our defense. They have been stepping up big time. And our offense is confident we can score when the defense gets us the ball back. What has helped us be successful to this point has been everybody playing together. Nobody is trying to do everything, they're just doing their job and what they're supposed to do."

Stratford (5-2 overall) and riding a four-game winning streak, sits atop the Region 7A-A standings at 3-0 with two games left. The 7A-A winner will host the region championship game Nov. 6.

As Williams mentioned, the Stratford defense has been nothing short of spectacular in the past four games, allowing just 41 points, including a shutout of Twiggs County last week.

For Mount de Sales (2-5, 1-2), there are players who can have big-play potential, as well. Through the first six games of the season, receiver Tres Hattaway has hauled in 23 receptions for 326 yards, while sophomore running back Adrian Hardwick has been efficient on the ground with 370 yards at 5.1 yards per carry.

"We've put emphasis on managing the game better as a football team," Mount de Sales head coach Keith Hatcher said. "We're focused on running the football and stopping the run. And we'll have to limit the big plays Stratford can hit on. But we've played better defense at times, and we've played three really good quarters of football. We've got to do a better job of playing a complete game. We've had some crucial lapses the past couple of games, and that can't happen."

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 5:59 PM with the headline "O'Showen Williams leads high-powered Stratford against Mount de Sales ."