Lincoln-Way East, The Jonas Williams Show Overwhelms Andrew – Shaw Local

TINLEY PARK – Jonas Williams of Lincoln-Way East showed off his usual tricks Friday night.

And it had nothing to do with the upcoming Halloween holiday.

Facing an Andrew defense that hadn’t seen anyone with his skills, the Oregon-bound quarterback threw five touchdowns – one shy of his season high – in the top-ranked Griffins’ 49-20 win over the Thunderbolts in the Southwest Valley Crossover.

The result contributes to a battle of the unbeaten in Frankfurt next Friday. The Griffins (8-0, 4-0 Blue) host Naperville Central (8-0, 4-0 Red) in a game that will serve as a playoff preview and for unofficial conference supremacy.

“I love it, love it, love it,” Griffins coach Rob Zvonar said. “We had a bye week in Week 2 and I would have taken that now, but how much more fun it was, 8-0 and 8-0 at home in the new conference. We’re not in the same departments, but the bottom line is that this is about the conference.

“Let’s go, let’s heat it up and let’s have fun.”

Diehards might want to line up for tickets now.

With the Griffins, they will see an organized team with a strong defense that has been tested by Andrew’s option attack, as well as an offense built on the calm head and strong arms and legs of Williams, who, as Zvonar notes, is only 16 but has the body of an NFL player.

He was in top form as usual, with four touchdowns in the first half alone when he was 10 of 12 for 133 yards. With two touchdown receptions from Keagan Ruane (37 and 18 yards) and two from Talan White-Hatch (11 and 28 yards), he was nearly unbeatable, save for an interception by Scott Oftedahl on the Griffins’ second series.

Williams worked with Ruane for the third touchdown and fifth touchdown overall, a 28-yarder that left the wideout wide open up the middle for a 35-20 lead with 6:20 remaining in the third quarter . Brody Gish added two rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Williams was also sacked once, but came back, gained 8 yards on the next play, ran for another 12 yards on the following snap and four plays later White-Hatch scored a score and a 14-6 lead.

This sack was one of the few times he was pressured. Pressure is not a major problem for him as he is able to move to the open side of the field when in trouble and from there pull the defense back, allowing him to run or throw as he sees fit. Andrew backed off and took full advantage.

“We did some good things offensively,” Williams said. “We had two turnovers, otherwise the game could have been much cleaner and we could have gone 50-60 on it. But you don’t want everything to go smoothly. Now we have something to work on next week.”

Next week. Williams — who was on the Autzen Stadium sideline during the Ducks’ thrilling win over Ohio State last Saturday — can’t wait to experience a similar atmosphere at East next Friday.

“I think it’s pretty personal for us, especially with this new conference,” Williams said. “The two best teams. It’s showing off.”

In the ninth week of the season, with the division long since concluded, we can’t achieve anything bigger.