This year's opening game was an evening of firsts for Fox Creek High School's football program, largely courtesy of Marty Williams Jr., who played a huge role in the Predators' 41-0 stomping of the Branchville Yellow Jackets.

The Predators, playing at Lions Field, won their football opener, got a touchdown by a punt return and were on the winning end of a shutout, all for the first time in their football program's history.

Williams, a junior, scored on the game's first play from scrimmage on a 48-yard run and went on to block a punt for a touchdown a few minutes later, followed by a 45-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and an 18-yard touchdown pass to Deondre Baskett a few minutes after that. The Predators had a 34-0 lead by halftime, and Quad Castleberry capped the blowout by returning a punt 78 yards for a score in the third quarter.

Dan Reynolds, Branchville's coach, said, "Fox Creek's got a couple of kids that really move the football. They've got two or three that are very difficult to catch.

"They at times made us look silly out there. They've got a good football team. They execute well and make very few mistakes. They don't do anything real complicated either ... They only do a few things, but those things, they do very well."

Another Williams - C.J. Williams - helped keep the Yellow Jackets guessing Friday as well, as he scored on a 59-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.

Some Predator players and fans cited the game as a huge sign of things to come, in terms of Predator prowess in football. "We have arrived," in the words of a Predator booster, having watched Fox Creek rack up 226 rushing yards and 18 aerial yards on one attempt, which was the touchdown pass to Baskett.

The Predators' next assignment is in North Charleston for a Friday contest against Academic Magnet at 7:30 p.m.