Return To Gridiron

WILLIAMS CELEBRATES RETURN TO FOOTBALL

FARMINGTON — Defensive back Josh Williams (5-feet10, 180 pounds) weary of absorbing blows and weighing academic demands of college, decided he was done with football; but football wasn’t done with him.

Williams, a 2016 Farmington graduate, accepted an athletic scholarship to Hendrix College, of Conway, but had a hard time telling the Warrior football coaches he had no intention of playing football.

“They recruited me out of high school, but I kind of led them to believe I was going to play football,” Williams said. “Obviously, I went to Hendrix just for track.”

Williams was en route to the State 5A track and field meet as a high school senior in the spring of 2016 when he summoned courage to call Hendrix and tell the coaches he wasn’t going to play.

“My reasoning was I was tired of getting hit in the head over and over, I figured I might stay a little smarter for doing it,” Williams said.

But, he missed the friendships and the camaraderie unique to football, plus the pre-game adrenalin rush. A decision to return to football was made one of the last days Williams was on the Hendrix campus for the spring semester. He is friends with a lot of the Hendrix football players and invested in conversations with them.

“How much time football takes up, they said it’s all worth it in the end,” Williams said. “The guys are great.”

Williams phoned Hendrix assistant coach Jordan Neal and asked if the coaches still wanted him. Twenty minutes later both came away eager to see what the future holds.

“He was really excited ‘cause they don’t have much depth at defensive back,” Williams said. “They were conference champs when I was a senior in high school. They were third last year. They have a stout team, they expect to win it all this year.”

There are currently 10 returning defensive backs listed on the Hendrix roster with two more two-way players, who could split time between offense and defense.

The opportunistic Williams has demonstrated a knack for making big plays. As a high school senior, Williams returned a blocked field goal 75 yards for a touchdown while playing defensive back in Farmington’s nonconference, 28-21, win over Huntsville on Sept. 11, 2015.

“The funny thing about that was, Skyler Montez blocked it with his face,” Williams said.

Montez was rushing when a low kick hit him in the eye. Williams alertly picked up the football and was off to the races. After scoring, Williams encountered Montez on the sideline.

“His eye was all red, I was like, ‘that one’s for you,’” Williams said.

Williams ran a 4.62 in the 40-yard dash in high school and is capable of dishing out smashing hits, unafraid to lower the boom on larger players. He once hammered former Prairie Grove tight end Dylan Soehner (6-feet-7, 275 pounds), who is now at Iowa State.

“I was thinking I got him pretty good, but he bounced back up like nothing ever happened,” Williams said.

This was incentive for the Hendrix football coaches to continue to try and persuade Williams to play college football, even when he opted not to play his freshmen season. He recently reversed that decision and will play college football as a sophomore at Hendrix.

“I’m really excited for it, I started missing it,” Williams said.

Williams is not giving up track and field. He has set Hendrix school records in the 200 and 400 meter races and is part of a record-setting 4x400 relay team. The adrenalin rush he gets before a race stirs him, but not in the same manner as pre-game jitters in football.

“In track there is more of a hastiness, you’re ready to run as fast as you can go, and you lose all the energy you have in just a couple of minutes,” Williams said. “In football, you’re ready to go hit someone. Unlike track, football has more of a team feel.”

“Honestly, just stick with what you love,” Williams said. “There was a point when I asked, ‘Do I even want to do college sports? It’s really busy.”

After he has weighed the pros and cons of playing college football, Williams concludes playing football will enhance his college life.

“I think I’m a lot happier than I would be without it.”

SUBMITTED PHOTO Josh Williams, a 2016 Farmington graduate, shown running a blocked field goal back for a touchdown with Huntsville players pursuing him in vain during his senior year at Farmington, plans to go out for football as a sophomore this fall at Hendrix...

SUBMITTED PHOTO Brothers Josh Williams (No. 25) and Caleb Williams (No. 16) exchange a brief word between plays while playing football for Farmington during the 2015 season. Josh graduated in 2016 and hopes Caleb, an incoming Farmington senior, will join him so the...

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Josh Williams, a 2016 Farmington graduate, has made his move. Williams has decided to play football for Hendrix College in the fall after opting not to play last year. He set several school records in sprints during his freshman season at Hendrix in...