Williams, Dozier lead Loris to win over Waccamaw

The Loris football team hadn’t played a game in 18 days heading into Tuesday’s contest and Ta’Jay Williams was eager to come out playing strong.

The senior quarterback did just that as he and the Lions made quick work of Waccamaw.

Loris led the Warriors by three scores at halftime and Williams finished with 211 yards of total offense and three touchdowns as the Lions took down Region VIII-AA foe Waccamaw 31-6 in a game that was originally scheduled for last Friday.

“We’ve been on a holdout and hadn’t played in almost three weeks. This was our way of releasing,” said Williams, whose team’s last game was a 21-19 loss to Georgetown on Sept. 25. “Our offense was clicking, our defense was clicking and we came out and did what we were supposed to do; we got the ‘W’ … Wins like this are good; it’s a great feeling.”

While Williams came out hot Tuesday, so did his trusted receiver Desmond Dozier.

Dozier caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Williams on Loris’ first drive of the game to give the Lions a quick 7-0 lead.

“That set the tone,” Williams said.

Williams connected with Dozier again for a 78-yard touchdown with eight minutes left in the second quarter to give the Lions a 14-0 advantage.

“I did the easy part; I just caught the ball,” Dozier said. “The [offensive] line was blocking and Ta’Jay was on point with the passes.”

Dozier has been catching passes from Williams since middle school.

“We have a great time,” Dozier said of he and Williams. “He’s funny and we play around a lot but when it’s game time, we always get down to business. We have a good relationship.”

Through the air, Williams finished 9-for-12 with 162 yards and two touchdowns. He also added a touchdown on the ground with a 23-yard run in the third quarter and had 45 rushing yards on six carries.

Dozier caught four passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns and also picked up 26 yards on four carries.

“He’s done a great job for us. He can do both; he can beat you with his arm and beat you with his legs,” Loris coach Jamie Snider said of Williams. “If you’re going to take him away, we’ve got Desmond Dozier and a couple of other guys out there that can bring it to you. They both had a great night tonight and it was nice to see our offense get off to a better start than we had in previous games.”

Said Waccamaw coach Tyronne Davis: “[Williams is] good and we knew that coming into this season. [Dozier] is a huge playmaker for them, too, and both of them burned us tonight.”

The Loris defense held the Warriors star halfback Kevin Gasque to 66 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown as he found the end zone on a 12-yard run with about 3:08 left in the game.

Loris held Waccamaw to just 127 yards of total offense. The Lions also forced the Warriors to punt on each of their first four possessions to set the the tone for a big defensive night. Junior Timothy Bell paced the Lions on defense as he had an interception and fumble recovery in the second half.

“Our trademark around here has been our defense,” Snider said. “It was good to see them play the way they did tonight and I’m really proud of their effort and how they responded to not playing a game in about three weeks.”

And while Loris hadn’t played in 18 days, it was even longer since the last time the Warriors took the field. Waccamaw was coming off a 40-8 win over Green Sea Floyds on Sept. 18, marking 25 days between contests. After beating the Trojans, the Warriors had a bye week and had their contest with Mullins pushed back to Nov. 6 due to recent heavy rain and flooding.

Meanwhile, the Lions’ contest with Marion, which was set for Oct. 2, was also moved to Nov. 6.

“Pretty weird that this was our region opener,” Williams said of the win.

Heading into Tuesday, though, Waccamaw had just one day of practice due to Georgetown County Schools being closed from the effects of the flooding.

Loris, which is a member of Horry County Schools, had a bit more luck and got to practice a few days more than the Warriors.

“It’s obviously great to be 1-0 in the region,” Snider said. “Georgetown [County teams] only had one day to practice and Waccamaw was working from a disadvantage from the start. They had a nice game plan for having one day of practice. We had a few more days of practice and I think that showed.”

Said Davis: “We ran into a tough Loris team tonight. We were only able to practice one day since our last game but that’s no excuse for the outcome tonight.”

Waccamaw is looking for its first Region VIII-AA win and will get a chance on Friday as the Warriors travel to Aynor to take on the Blue Jackets.

“Our region is pretty dang tough. Right now we’re 0-1 and we need a win at Aynor,” Davis said. “And we need to come out stronger than we did tonight.”

Meanwhile, Loris also has a quick turnaround time as it prepares for a contest at Mullins on Friday.

“Since we have another game this week, we can just sleep on this one and come to work Wednesday and Thursday and get ready for Mullins on Friday,” Williams said.

Said Dozier: “This win means a lot. We’ve got our full region schedule ahead of us and this gives us some momentum. But we still have to come out prepared and execute like we did tonight.”

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 1:02 AM with the headline "Williams, Dozier lead Loris to win over Waccamaw."