Amari Yelding ran for a touchdown and threw for another, while Bryce Dowdlan rushed 25 times for 108 yards as B.C. Rain outlasted Williamson 13-2 in a tough Class 5A, Region 1 game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Thursday night.

Rain (2-2 overall, 1-2 region play) used a stout defense and forced Williamson (2-3, 2-2) into a pair of turnovers, holding the Lions to 138 yards total offense.

“Whatever we needed to do, we knew it was going to be a tough, hard-fought football game and they’re (Williamson) are going to battle to the end, and as long as we don’t quit and face (adversity), we’re going to be fine,” said Red Raider head coach L.T. Yelding. “I’ll tell anybody, if Dowdlan’s not the best running back in the city, he’s one of them. He ran with a purpose tonight.

“Defensively, we got kids who get after the football. They love playing the game. They love contact.”

Williamson drove deep into Rain territory twice via an interception and a blocked punt in the first quarter, but was unable to get into the end zone. On their first possession of the second quarter, the Red Raiders got several big runs from Dowdlan, along with a 45-yard pass from Yelding to Julius Rogers to set up their first score on Yelding’s 7-yard run. Joel Hernandez’s PAT made it 7-0.

The Lions had another chance in the third quarter to get on the board but came up empty again. Williamson drove to the Red Raider 27 on its first possession of the second half, but Jaylin Davis intercepted Alvin Dinkins’ pass to end the threat.

Rain’s clinching touchdown came with 3:30 left in the game when Yelding hit Dillon Robinson on a 49-yard scoring strike. The score was set up by a fake punt on fourth-and-12 from the Red Raider 44. A direct snap to Ricky Nichols advanced the ball to the Lion 42, and Robinson scored four plays later.

“We’ve been struggling on our special teams a little bit, and I thought it was going to be a situation where they were going to definitely come after it and it would flip the field,” L.T. Yelding said. “We were near the 50, and we’d been playing pretty good defense, and they were having a hard time moving the ball on us. So I told our coaches to max protect and give our kid a shot to make a play. If they intercepted, it would be just like a punt. But we were fortunate. Dillon caught a big ball and gave us a little bit of a cushion.”

Williamson finally got on the board with 46 seconds left in the game when Yelding ran out of the end zone for a safety after retrieving a bad snap from center.

Star of the game: Dowdlan’s bruising runs that kept the Red Raider offense moving along and set up some big plays. But Rain’s defense deserves mention too, as it turned back several promising Williamson drives.

Play of the game: On fourth-and-12 from its 44 and apparently ready to punt, Rain’s punter faked as if the ball was snapped over his head. Instead, the ball was directly snapped to Nichols, who ran for 14 yards to the Lions’ 42, keeping the drive alive and setting up the game-clinching touchdown.

By the numbers: 2, number of turnovers by Williamson; 4, total net offensive rushing yardage for Williamson; 4, consecutive losses by B.C. Rain in its series against Williamson prior to Thursday night’s meeting; 6, total number of first downs for Williamson; 14, total number of first downs for B.C. Rain; 199, total number of first-half offensive yards for B.C. Rain; 2016, last time the Red Raiders defeated the Lions.

Stat sheet: For B.C. Rain, Amari Yelding was 8-of-16 for 134 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Robinson had three receptions for 63 yards. For Williamson, Nytrayveis Martin had 12 carries for 37 yards, while Alvin Dinkins was 12-of-19 for 94 yards and two interceptions.

Did you know? This is the 47th meeting of the two teams dating back to 1975. Williamson has won 24 games in the series, while Rain has won 23.

Coachspeak: “I told my guys this is a rivalry a lot older than myself, and being affiliated with B.C. Rain, I hear all the stories and get the calls saying, ‘Coach, we really need this one,’ so I told my guys today and all week that we’ve got to find a way (to win). We did a lot of things, and we got to go back to the drawing board to get some things cleaned up, but it’s a lot easier to do with a win.” — L.T. Yelding.

“When you start an eighth-grade running back, I don’t make any excuses. We’re playing a freshman quarterback who’s playing big time ball. I’ve been around football a long time, and you’ve got to take the bitter with the sweet. It’s a growing process, and I’m going to take my licks, but we’ve got to find a way to put the ball in the end zone.” — Williamson coach Antonio Coleman

Up next: Next Friday night, B.C. Rain hosts Davidson, while Williamson hosts Blount.