High School Sports
Seamount King: RB Nate Williams is Kennedy's next big thing

By Sandy Ringer
Seattle Times staff reporter

JAMES BRANAMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES Nate Williams rushed for 840 yards and scored nine touchdowns as a 14-year-old and should get the ball more often this year.

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BURIEN — The legacy is long, the talent a tradition.

Tailbacks carry more than the football at Kennedy High School. They carry high expectations from legends who came before them.

Paul Arnold, Cory Jones, Eddie Gayles, Leif Johnson, Brenno DeFeo. Big names who amassed big numbers while wearing Kennedy's red, white and blue.

Johnny Lopez and Zach Cooper took the torch in the new millennium and raised the standard. None of them had a freshman year like Nate Williams.

Williams rushed for 840 yards on 101 carries and scored nine touchdowns as Kennedy reached the Class 3A state semifinals last fall. At 6 feet 2 and 190 pounds, he was a 14-year-old man-child with massive potential. Williams played fullback and primarily blocked for Cooper the first half of the season, but steadily took on a larger role and ultimately logged back-to-back 100-yard games in the playoffs.

Now the tailback spot is his, and the next legend seems to have arrived.

"I keep telling him, there's such a great tradition of halfbacks at Kennedy," coach Bob Bourgette said. "I took him in and showed him all the record books and told him, 'You are on track to break the all-time record at Kennedy. ... You keep doing the things you're doing and stay healthy and you've got an opportunity to be in some pretty good company.'

"He already is in some pretty good company, but he can surpass it."

Cooper became Kennedy's 17th 1,000-yard rusher last season, amassing 1,921 yards to give him 3,130 for his career. He broke Johnson's school mark of 3,055.
 
Lopez still holds the season mark of 1,984 — 10 more than the highly acclaimed Arnold, one of the nation's top high-school recruits as a senior in 1998-99.

Williams is primed to take aim at all those marks — if it will help his team keep winning.

"If I do get the records, great. But if I don't, oh well," he said. "It's really not one of my worries. I just want the team to win."

Williams, who also starts at cornerback, isn't seeking personal glory. His father, Terry, has seen to that.

"He knows better than to get big-headed," said older brother Marcus, a junior who starts both ways on the line.

Terry Williams was an all-league defensive back at Lindbergh in 1984 and also started at running back for two seasons. He married his high-school sweetheart, Gina, and they have three sons. The youngest, 12-year-old Andre, was born deaf and both brothers are adept at signing.

Terry coached Marcus and Nate to three championships in junior football, but they learned more than X's and O's. They learned to be gracious winners.

"I'm always telling these guys, 'You've got to be as humble as possible, because there's always going to be somebody better," Terry said. "Don't let your mouth do your talking, let your actions speak for you.' "

Nate's physique speaks volumes. He needed to shave in eighth grade and is constantly mistaken for being older. Until last year, he had always been the biggest guy on his football team and he said it was a "shock" when he first lined up against the more physical juniors and seniors.

But Williams quickly adapted to the faster pace and bigger opponents. He clearly was beyond his years in terms of ability.

"He has great vision, he's got great balance and he's very explosive," Bourgette said. "When he makes contact, rather than getting hit, he's hitting you. He's going to inflict pain on you. That's the difference between a college back and a high-school back, and he's got that, along with good speed."

Williams, now a more muscular 193, said he learned a lot last year watching Cooper and is excited to see what he can do at tailback this fall.

"Those are pretty big footsteps to follow," he said. "I think I'm up to the challenge."

Sandy Ringer: sringer@seattletimes.com