This week’s First Commonwealth Athlete of the Week is Delrece Williams, a senior tailback for the Steel Valley football team.

For anyone who wondered if he had any more gas left in the tank after a career night in Week 6, he erased all doubts with another stellar outing against a Century Conference opponent in Week 7 that buoyed his team’s playoff hopes.

Williams monopolized both the scoreboard and the highlight reel by carrying the ball 20 times for 215 and scoring all of the Ironmen’s touchdowns in a 21-0 victory at Keystone Oaks last Friday.  The win moves Steel Valley into a third-place tie with the Golden Eagles.

Steel Valley now ultimately needs, at the very least, just one more win to guarantee a spot in the Class AA playoffs.  It would be team’s second straight postseason appearance and fourth in the last five years.

Williams broke a scoreless tie in the first quarter by breaking down KO’s defense with a 32-yard scoring run that gave the Ironmen a 6-0 lead prior to Corey Joyce’s extra point.  Running behind an offensive line that was facing one of its most difficult assignments of the season, Williams broke the game open in the third with a 36-yard touchdown, then sent some folks heading for the exits at Dormont Stadium with a 46-yard jaunt to the end zone in the fourth.

With 1,493 yards through seven games he is the leading rusher in Class AA and No. 2 in the WPIAL behind Hopewell’s Rushel Shell, averaging a staggering nine yards per carry.  Friday’s game marked Williams’ fifth 200-yard effort of the season.

His three TD’s give him 19 on the year and 122 total points, making him the second-leading scorer in the classification behind fellow Century Conference running back Kevin Hart (Seton-LaSalle).

Tune into the next edition of The Post-Gazette High School Football Show Presented by First Commonwealth Bank this Saturday morning at a special time of 7:00-9:00 on SportsRadio 93.7 The Fan and 937thefan.com, as the Post-Gazette’s Mike White and MSA’s Don Rebel name our next First Commonwealth Athlete of the Week!