WILLIAMSBURG

Will Cavanagh and Jack Pennington had silenced the place.

And that doesn’t happen so often at Williamsburg High School’s football stadium, a place where tradition means playoff runs and district championships accentuated by the ringing of the school’s victory bell.

But with just 7:03 left in last Friday’s Class 2A District 6 showdown, Pennington’s touchdown catch on Cavanagh’s third scoring pass of the night had given Mid-Prairie a 21-17 lead. Pennington had also kept the drive alive with a catch on a fourth down play.

Attempting to defeat district rival Williamsburg for the first time since 2009, the Golden Hawks sideline bubbled with enthusiasm.

Less than two minutes later, Williamsburg quarterback Cade Ritchie threw his only scoring pass of the night to Jake Weber, giving the Raiders a 24-21 lead they would not relinquish.

“I am so proud of our guys. The grit we showed tonight,” Mid-Prairie head coach Pete Cavanagh said. “I mean, like nobody has given us a chance in the district. We have two of our top players out, we had our best lineman [Gannon Callahan] go down right away. And a play here or there, we win that game.”

The Golden Hawks (2-1 2A-6, 3-3 overall) had the Raiders (3-0, 3-3) on their heels early. Mid-Prairie led 14-3 at halftime on a pair of Will Cavanagh touchdown passes, a 7-yarder to senior receiver Jarrett Hoffman and a 17-yarder to Justice Jones.

“They’re a really good defense. I mean, they’re really good,” Pete Cavanagh said of the Raiders. “They’ve been good all year. I thought we played really well.”

Will Cavanagh sliced up Williamsburg’s defensive secondary for a game-high 208 yards on 15-of-26 passing. He also ran for a team-high 90 yards.

Defensively, Jones led the Golden Hawks with 10 tackles. Pennington and Kaden Meader each 5.5 tackles.

The Golden Hawks piled up 387 yards of total offense to Williamsburg’s 305. But it wasn’t enough.

“We had a missed opportunity once or twice down in the red zone, but against that defense, I will take that,” Pete Cavanagh said. “Those points should win the game. It just got away from us.”

After Williamsburg junior running back Owen Douglas answered the Raiders’ 11-point deficit with a pair of touchdown runs, one of them covering 49 yards in the third quarter, and Weber scored in the fourth quarter with 5:28 left, the Golden Hawks still had a chance to strike back.

Mid-Prairie drove from its own 20-yard line to the Williamsburg 9, but a fourth down pass in the end zone fell incomplete with 1:30 remaining.

“We had a shot,” Pete Cavanagh said. “Just give them credit. They made a play down in the end zone. We just ran out of of plays.”

And soon, Williamsburg’s victory bell was ringing and the Raiders students rushed the field in celebration.

So what did this mean for the district title race and postseason?

Williamsburg and Davis County are both 3-0 in district play and will play Friday, October 8, in Bloomfield. A week later, Davis County hosts Mid-Prairie. If Davis County (4-2 overall) knocks off Williamsburg this week, then the Golden Hawks could be playing for a share of the district title on October 15.

The Golden Hawks have already clinched a postseason spot and at least fourth place in the district.