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LINESVILLE — Linesville’s Doug Williams proved that fullbacks have jets too ... just not the biggest fuel tanks.

In the second quarter of Linesville’s non-region tilt against Saegertown on Friday night, Williams turned an off-tackle dive into a 74-yard touchdown run, breaking a 6-6 tie and providing the Lions with the shift of momentum they needed to beat the Panthers 24-20.

“I thought I was going to need an oxygen tank after that one,” Williams joked about the long haul.

Still, the junior had enough wind in him to score two more TDs and lead the Lions with 132 rushing yards and post some crucial stops on defense.

But before things started going well for Williams and the Lions, the Panthers were on the prowl.

On the possession prior to Williams’ big score, Linesville faced a third-and-an-inch on their own 40-yard line. However, Saegertown’s defense posted two enormous stops at the line of scrimmage to get the ball back in the Lions’ turf.

Two plays later, Panthers’ quarterback Zach Beatty dropped one right in the basket of receiver David Haskins on a 33-yard touchdown pass to put Saegertown up 6-0.

Linesville (2-1) got the ball back on their own 26, and on the first play from scrimmage Williams’ sprung the game-changer, breaking through the front line and finding nothing but empty real estate in front of him.

“The play of the game was their fullback going the distance on a dive play right after our score,” said Saegertown’s head coach Ken Achenbach, who’s squad suffered its first loss of the year and is now 2-1. “Take that play away and it’s a different ball game ... I think we had a line movement on. I think we ran right by the guy. It was nothing we didn’t practice against.”

Later in the second quarter, Linesville embarked on a remarkably fluid series, picking up five first downs on nine plays in the midst of a 74-yard drive that gave the Lions a 12-6 lead following a five-yard TD rush by Williams.

“(Doug) ran hard,” said Lions coach Pat Gould. “We struggled getting him the ball at the beginning. We started figuring out where they were lining up. We found out where we could go. And in the second quarter we hit it pretty hard.”

In the third quarter, Linesville’s freshman quarterback Trevor Litwiler took charge of his team’s next scoring drive, completing 2-of-3 passes for 35 yards and rushing for 18 more, including a 14-yarder off the right end that scored six and gave the Lions an 18-6 lead.