In any given year, somewhere around the state there is a high school football coach who has a son on his team.
But chances are, no place other than King has a head football coach with a grandson on his team.
And a grandson who’s the star player, at that.
It all unfolded on Saturday afternoon at Antioch when the the Jaguars shocked the hometown fans by rallying past the Sequoits 24-17 in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.
King (8-2) will next host Nazareth in the Round of 16, while Antioch (7-3) calls it a season.
Lonnie Williams has been coaching football at King since the school started fielding a team in 1967.
His grandson, running back Lance Robinson, is the team’s go-to guy on offense, and against Antioch, he delivered.
Robinson carried 31 times for 122 yards and scored on runs of two and 22 yards. He also completed an 18-yard halfback option pass.
His first touchdown run cut Antioch’s lead to 17-12 early in the second quarter. His second touchdown run with 5:42 left in the third quarter put his team ahead for good at 18-17.
Meanwhile, King’s defense stood out.
The Jaguars took a 6-0 lead on the game’s first possession when Robert Tucker intercepted a Dan Meade pass and returned it to the house.
Antioch answered when speedster Griffin Hill returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards.
Later in the first quarter, Weston Fox caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Meade to make it 14-6.
Hill finished with 11 yards rushing on nine first-half attempts. He had zero carries after the break. Meade was 5-of-16 passing for 62 yards and had three picks.
King ran the ball 52 times for 206 yards and junior quarterback Sean Edison Jr. was 4-of-10 for 44 yards and one pick. He also ran 17 times for 65 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown run that completed the scoring.