Williston cruises past Hamilton County behind Kyree Edwards’ three touchdowns

Edwards rushed for 106 yards and scored three touchdowns in the win for the Red Devils in just two quarters

WILLISTON, Fla. - It was fast, furious and touchdowns were aplenty for the revamped Williston Red Devils football program Tuesday night.

Last year was a little preview of what would be in store for the Red Devils and now under the new direction of first-year head coach Robby Pruitt. Williston had the look of a team that is ready to compete for a Class 1A-Rural state championship.

The Red Devils did primarily all of their damage in the first half, as running back Kyree Edwards scored three first quarter touchdowns and led his team to a 48-0 victory over the Hamilton County Trojans at Booster Stadium. 

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“Sometimes it is,” Edwards said about Williston playing in a lot of running clock games. “Can be frustrating state wise because it’s our senior year and trying to get some more film, but it’s on to the next. We are trying to win a state championship.” 

The win moves Williston to 9-0 on the season and Hamilton County drops to 1-6. The game was just over two quarters of play because of the Trojans’ low players and injuries sustained in the game. The contest thus ended up being called.

From the opening snap of the game, the Red Devils never left any doubt who would be in command of the game. That would be Williston’s offensive line controlling the game, opening up the lanes for Edwards and bevy of backs.

Edwards broke through for his first touchdown of the night when he scored on a 24-yard run with 10:19 in the game. The running back broke through again for his second of the quarter when he went 13 yards to pay dirt and right before the period ended, added 38 yard score. Edwards exited the first quarter with 106 yards on just six touches and three scores.

“This is a good win, but as a coach or a player, you want a little bit better competition,” Pruitt said. “Getting called at half, it was like a practice for us. We’ve got to get a whole lot better in all phases of the game in order to beat Chiefland. It’s going to take a great effort.” 

That’s all Williston’s defense needed to keep Hamilton County’s offensive attack at bay, by holding the Trojan to less than 50 yards of total offense by halftime. The game wouldn’t last too much past intermission as the Trojans had a player injured, thus effectively ending the contest. 

Now the Red Devils (9-0) will get a bye week next before a big Class 1A-Rural matchup against Chiefland. Both teams have aspirations to win a state championship this season and Pruitt sees it as a chance for his team to finally play four quarters. 

“We know it’s going to be a really physical game,” Pruitt said. “(Chiefland) has a good football club and they’ve got a lot of seniors on the team. A good veteran football team. It’s going to be a war. Our kids have only played one full game all year long.”

Andy Villamarzo can be reached at andyvillamarzo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Villamarzo.