When it comes to junior quarterback Jonas Williams running the football, Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar is not a big fan.
Zvonar would rather see the Oregon recruit throwing the ball or handing it off. He gets a little nervous when Williams takes off running.
“We don’t want him to run the ball,” Zvonar said. “The only good thing I see when he runs is when he slides. You don’t want to get him dinged up. But he is very capable.”
Capable is a nice way of putting it.
Williams ran nine times for 149 yards and three touchdowns Friday night, including spectacular bursts of 60 and 84 yards for the Griffins, in a 45-0 win over Stevenson in a Class 8A quarterfinal.
Take away a couple of sacks, and Williams would have had 162 yards to go with 159 yards passing and a TD pass to Talan White-Hatch.
Western Michigan recruit Zion Gist ran for 102 yards and a TD and Brody Gish added 83 yards and another TD for host Lincoln-Way East (12-0) in Frankfort.
And while Zvonar might not like Williams running, he certainly liked the results. He can’t say enough about the quarterback who transferred in after starring for two seasons at Bolingbrook.
“He’s an incredible player, and there has never been one like him in the greater Chicago area or the state,” Zvonar said of Williams. “I’ve been around over 30 years, and I’ve never seen a player who can do everything, and that’s with all due respect to the greats.
“I say that with great humility.”
Not everyone agrees. There are times early in games when Williams throws an incompletion or gets sacked. Of course, that’s when the opposing student sections begin the “overrated” chant.
Williams gets a kick out of that.
“That’s fueling to me,” he said. “They are just trying to get in my head. I like hearing those chants because people are hating, and that’s when you know you are doing something right.
“When I hear that, I know I’m going to make something happen next.”
Up next for Lincoln-Way East will be the winner of Saturday’s matchup between Loyola (9-2) and Maine South (8-3) in the semifinals. The Griffins have a recent history with both teams.
The past two years, Lincoln-Way East has finished second to Loyola in the Class 8A state championship game. This fall, the Griffins opened the season with a 49-22 win over Maine South.
But Friday, Williams snapped an eight-game winning streak for Stevenson (10-2) by racing along the left sideline for a 60-yard TD run in the first quarter and following with a legendary 84-yard run along the left sideline that ended up toward the right sideline and eventually into the end zone.
Count junior defensive lineman Gage LaDere among those left shaking their heads.
“I saw bits and pieces of that long run and it was very impressive,” said LaDere, who anchored the defense. “It was honestly kind of a crazy run. I don’t know how he got into the end zone.”
Williams, however, did. He had help with blocks, including a big one from Keagan Ruane-Martino.
“They thought I was going to run out of bounds and I cut back,” Williams said. “My receivers — Talon made a great block and Keagan made a great block — helped spring me through.
“Without those blocks, the play doesn’t happen.”
Williams said running for a TD is a little more fun than passing for one. He also had a lot of fun on Oct. 12 when he was at Oregon’s 32-31 win over Ohio State in Eugene, Oregon,
“Pregame I was on the sidelines and during the game I was in the stands at the 50,” he said. “I was cheering as a fan.”
How happy would he be with state championship for Lincoln-Way East and witnessing a national title for Oregon?
“That would be ideal,” he said.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
