Williams turning heads, setting records for Bruins
Broadneck wide receiver on pace for a special finish to high school football career
The future looks bright for Broadneck’s Ethon Williams.
The Bruins senior wide receiver has already committed to play Division I football at Boston College. Before heading north when he reports to the school shortly after the new year, Williams has the chance to not only add to his impressive receiving stats but also set some county records in the process.
Williams, a starter since he was a freshman, has played in 38 games and has 137 receptions for 2,291 yards heading into his senior year. R.J. Harris (Arundel) holds the Anne Arundel County record with 2,700 career yards. Williams’ 137 catches are 53 shy of the county record, also held by Harris, and his 32 receiving touchdowns are16 shy of Harris’ county record and17 off the state record.
In Saturday’s season-opening 21-13 win over Bowie, he had seven catches for 61 yards and a touchdown.
Not bad for a player who assumed he’d be on the junior varsity as a freshman.
“He was going to be on JV. We were at a 7-on-7 and he was a man among boys. He was way better than anyone out there,” Broadneck coach Rob Harris said. “One of the other coaches walked up to meandsaid, ‘Why is he messing with JV?’ ”
While that initial event might not have clinched Williams’ spot on the varsity, the next one did. Harris didn’t have enough players for another offseason event, so he asked Williams whether he wanted to go. Williams went, and according to Harris, he had multiple long touchdowns and continued to impress on the field.
“It was over right there,” Harris said. “He was going to be on varsity.”
Williams, a two-time All-Metro firstteam selection, played in 13 games as a freshman and had 14 receptions for 230 yards (16.4 average yards per catch) and four touchdowns.
Going into Williams’ freshman year, Harris knew he had an exceptional athlete. Still, it was too early to envision Williams having a record-setting career.
“He’s a thicker kid with some speed and he has amazing hands. Early on, I knew he was going to have a chance,” Harris said. “He is always working, and that’s what I couldn’t predict as a ninth grader. All I could tell him was if he took care of his grades and worked hard, he’d have some opportunities.”
If his first season introduced Williams to the county, as well as college recruiters, his next two got him on the minds of the rest of the county coaches and numerous recruiters. He had 50 catches for 877 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore, then added 66 catches for 1,123 yards and 17 touchdowns last year.
At that point, the college programs started calling.
In the summer of his junior year, the first offer came from West Virginia. He kept his options open, visited some more schools and even returned to West Virginia earlier this year for a junior day. Alittle more than a month after his second visit to West Virginia, he committed to Boston College.
“It was a relief once I committed,” Williams said. “I didn’t like the recruiting process at all.”
Williams, whose brother, Devon, was a three-year starter at Broadneck and graduated in 2014, says his commitment is firm. He has a 3.0 GPA, and one of the reasons he chose Boston College is its top business school. He had a 3.9 GPA last semester and is taking the necessary steps to enroll early at Boston College in January. He’ll be able to participate with the Eagles during spring practice.
“I liked the coaches more at Boston College,” Williams said. “They were pretty good during the recruiting process and they did a good job persuading me to go to the school.”
Williams will have some juggling to do before moving on. He’s taking a class two nights a week during the fall, and on other days he attends school for a few hours, goes home to study and work on homework, then returns to practice.
While his academics are in order and he’s already done enough on the football field to reach Division I, Williams still wants to go out in style before heading to Boston College.
“My goal is to just go out with a bang. I want this to be the best year I’ve ever had,” he said. “I’m motivated for college and I’m motivated for my last season [at Broadneck]. It’s going to be a great season.”