The Faith Academy defense held visiting Williamson to 108 total yards of offense while the Ram offense came to life in the second half for a 29-0 victory in a Class 5A, Region 1 contest at Rams Stadium on Friday night.

“It was important to get a region win, and we are mighty grateful,” Faith coach Jack French said. “The kids responded and played hard all night. We finally got things going our way in the third quarter and held on.”

The Rams improved to 5-3 overall, 4-2 in the region and will host UMS-Wright next Friday, while the Lions (3-6, 2-5) will have a bye week before wrapping up the regular season against UMS-Wright on Nov. 2.

“We had the passing game going tonight, we just couldn’t get it going on the run,” said Williamson coach John Mitchell, who was filling in for head coach Antonio Coleman who has been out recovering from surgery. “Defensively, they played us pretty tough in the run game and made it hard to get anything.”

Tyrell Dotson ran for 83 yards and 2 touchdowns on 9 carries, while Jaeden Simmons added 51 yards and a TD on 11 carries for Faith. Slade Sullivan was 6-of-10 passing for 47 yards and Jarrett Daughtry 3-for-3 for 98 yards and a scoring strike, while Ty Goodwill caught 5 receptions for 139 yards and a score.

Defensively, Jacori Stabler blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety, Cooper Searcy recovered a fumble and Dotson recorded an interception to pace the home team, which recorded 5 sacks on the night.

Quarterback Alvin Dinkins was 15-for-22 for 121 yards, Keith Donald Jr. had 8 receptions for 72 yards and Jermaine McCree had 89 all-purpose yards with 12 receiving and 77 on returns.

The Rams scored on drives of 59, 51, 69 and 67 yards.

Dotson scored on a 1-yard run with 2:01 to go until halftime and Bryson Hearn added the first of 3 PATs for a 7-0 lead. Simmons scored on a 7-yard run midway through the third quarter and Daughtry found Goodwill for a 26-yard scoring strike with 2:43 to go in the third for a 21-0 advantage.

Dotson ripped off a 67-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter, but Taijh Overton, who also blocked a punt, blocked the PAT to leave the score at 27-0.

Less than 2 minutes later, Stabler blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety that brought the scoring to a close.