Williams breaks loose as No. 3 Burbank routs Sac High in football

Isaiah Williams wanted a nickname, craved a catchy tag to match his flashy game.

The Burbank High School senior tailback sought out Titans public address announcer John Hull and debated ideas. Hull, a media teacher at the south Sacramento school, informed a grinning Williams that if he keeps scoring touchdowns, he'll go by "TD" during home games over the loudspeakers.

"TD" it was on Friday night.

With Williams breaking loose for first-half scoring bursts of 90, 84 and 51 yards and scoring four times total, the No. 3 Titans smothered visiting Sacramento 56-12 in a Metro Conference opener that was expected to be a bit closer for a full crowd.

Williams rushed for 245 yards on just six carries, just one in the second half.

Sacramento, sporting its most prolific and talented team since the Tom Rutten-coached crew of 1992, was undone by its own miscues early, and Burbank preys on gaffes.

The Titans field perhaps the best team in the school's 49-year history, and their Bee ranking is the highest since their Metro title team of 1967.

Burbank (5-0, 1-0) made it 14-0 on two plays – Williams' 90-yarder and a 15-yard score by quarterback Ernest Jenkins.

Williams isn't the biggest back in the region by any measure at 5-foot-6, but he is a muscled 190 pounds.

And good luck catching him.

He has produced dazzling touchdown sprints against Grant and Del Oro in early statement victories as the Titans aim for a 10-0 regular season.

Williams has 823 yards and eight touchdowns this season after going for 1,496 and 23 in 2011.

Not to be outdone, Calvin Green tore off a 55-yard touchdown run to make it 36-0 before halftime and opened the second half with an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

These Titans may be the fastest outfit in the Sac-Joaquin Section, rivaled only by top-ranked Elk Grove and No. 2 Franklin, both off to 5-0 starts and catching their breath with Friday byes.

Burbank is anchored by a superb offensive line of Taliauli Finau, Noel "Bubba" Pinnock, Simione Vailea, Jakeen Hingano and Prentiss Johnson.

Vailea and Finau are every bit as chatty and personable as Williams, who seeks to become the program's first 2,000-yard single-season rusher.

"They're your typical offensive-line bunch – the hardest workers, the funniest kids, the ones you want to be around," said Burbank assistant coach James Pale, a Titans alumnus.

To that end, Vailea likes to mutter "fourth string" to head coach John Heffernan in reference to his middle linebacker rank.

Ngalu Tapa, an unblockable terror at 6-foot-3 and 265 pounds, anchors the Titans' defensive line. Just a junior, Tapa is an honors student who lights up when talking of studying mechanical engineering in college.

Area coaches who have faced the rising recruit say Tapa is the best stopper they have opposed this season.

Friday, he kept pressure on Dragons quarterback Josiah Johnson with two sacks. Johnson was paramount to his team's 3-1 start.

Johnson was intercepted twice by Ben Jones but hung in there and fired a two-yard touchdown pass and scooted in for a two-yard run to cut it to 50-12.

On this night, Johnson and company were overwhelmed by "TD."

Said Pale of his back: "He is the most charming young man you will ever meet. Just ask him."

Pretty fast, too.

• Read more articles by Joe Davidson

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