Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Troy Williams ready for Washington
By Blair Angulo
Following a deep pass attempt in the first half Saturday night, Harbor City (Calif.) Narbonne quarterback Troy Williams raised his throwing arm and grimaced as he held his ailing right shoulder. The four-star signal-caller had suffered a separated shoulder two weeks prior and, despite not being completely healthy, opted to play through the injury.
Yet the emotional agony outweighed the physical pain, as Williams and previously unbeaten Narbonne fell to Corona (Calif.) Centennial, 41-34, in the CIF Southern California Regional Open Division bowl game.
Williams completed 28 of 37 attempts for 362 yards and three touchdowns, and added 105 rushing yards and another score, helping Narbonne erase a 19-point halftime deficit to tie the game with just over a minute remaining. But Centennial and its fast-paced offense managed to pull off the upset in front of a lively crowd at Norwalk (Calif.) Cerritos College.
“I’m real proud,” said Williams, a Washington commit who wore a purple skull cap, purple socks and a purple glove on his non-throwing hand. “We found it somewhere inside ourselves to fight back, and we did. It wasn’t enough, and we fell just short.”
Williams showed his determination by playing through pain. He separated the shoulder Nov. 23 in a victory against league rival Carson (Calif.) High School and hadn’t been the same since the injury. Narbonne coach Manual Douglas praised his star for displaying leadership.
“I’ve been rehabbing it, and it’s something I just had to play with,” Williams said. “God helped me get through it and now I just have to keep rehabbing it and hope that it’s better by the time I get to Washington.”
UCLA assistant coaches Adrian Klemm, Demetrice Martin and Noel Mazzone watched intently from the sidelines Saturday, but Williams did not waver on his commitment to the Huskies. The No. 2-rated dual-threat quarterback is scheduled to graduate this week and plans to leave for Seattle on Jan. 1 in time to enroll early.
“I’m real excited,” Williams said. “I’m graduating soon, so I’m hoping to live it up my last week of high school. As soon as I get up there, it’s grind time again. I’m starting all over. I’ll have to move on from the past and hopefully have a bright future. ... I’ve just got to make sure I’m working hard. I don’t want to get caught slacking or anything like that. I’ll be freshman and I’ll have to work hard like it’s going to be my last day on campus. Hopefully I can build off that momentum and become a starting quarterback early at Washington.”
