Harlon Hill Candidate Earning Pro Attention

Harlon Hill Candidate Earning Pro Attention

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by David Mejia
ASC Sports Information Student Assistant

Alamosa, Colo.- The booming sound the Adams State College football fans are hearing is coming off the right foot of Jeff Williams. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound punter is well-known throughout the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, and his exploits are catching the attention of opponents and professional scouts as well.

Williams, a junior from Mead, Colo. and Skyline High School, is leading Division II football in punting with an impressive 47.9 yards per punt average. As a result, Williams, who has led the RMAC in punting during each of the last two seasons, is a candidate for the Harlon Hill Award - given to the top NCAA Division II Player of the Year. The Harlon Hill Award is the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

"It's really a big honor, but I'm not going to get my hopes up for it," Williams said. "It would pretty much get me noticed by a few pro teams."

Jeff Williams is already garnering attention from pro scouts although he is just a junior.

Any football coach worth his salt will tell you that field position is crucial in any game. A good special teams effort will more often than not be the determining factor in a closely contested game. This may never be more factual for the Grizzlies, who are currently on their first 5-game winning streak in Coach Wayne McGinn's tenure and the longest single-season winning streak in 12 seasons.

A punter takes the field when the offense has failed to sustain a drive and is counted on to pin the opposition deep in their own territory. The punter is the offense's best friend and the undeniable ally of the defense.

"It's important with field position, it's helped us get out of holes," McGinn said. "One of the problems of Jeff kicking it so far, is it's hard to cover, but it's a good problem to have.

"We just have to work with the coverage team and make sure Jeff doesn't kick it right at the return guy. The main thing with Jeff's punting is that it's huge for field position. Field position is a team goal and it takes a whole team to create good field position."

Williams has become part of special company of prolific punters at ASC. The junior joins the likes of Don Cockroft and Jason Van Dyke, both of whom have established themselves among the elite punters in the nation. Cockroft graduated in 1966 and went on to a stellar career with the Cleveland Browns as a place kicker and punter.

Cockroft led the nation in punting in 1966 with a 48.0 average, punting 36 times for 1,728 yards. Van Dyke, meanwhile, grabbed the honor in 1998, punting 59 times for 2,727 yards and an average of 46.2 yards. Van Dyke currently is ranked ninth in the national record book for overall season average and holds the career record of 44.3 yards per punt, a tenth less than Williams' current career mark of 44.4.

Williams' longest punt is an impressive 77 yards. That boot against Montana State in 2002, puts him third behind Dave Humann (89 yards in 1987) and Wes Polk (83 yards in 1989). Van Dyke's longest punt is 76 yards in 1997, while Cockroft's longest was 74 yards in 1966.

Special teams is one of the three facets of a football game – the other two being offense and defense – and the Grizzlies have certainly been blessed with a bevy of great punters. With the likes of Williams, Van Dyke, Tony Prichard, Polk and Humann, Adams State has led the RMAC in punting nine out of the last 10 seasons.

The accolades have been many for Williams thus far:

• 2-Time First Team All-RMAC (2002 & 2003)
• 5-Time National Player of the Week
• 6-Time RMAC Player of the Week
• 2002 Second Team All-West Region (d2football.com)
• 2002 Third Team All-West Region (Don Hansen's Weekly Football Gazette)
• 2003 Preseason All-American (Don Hansen's Weekly Football Gazette)
• 2003 RMAC Preseason Special Teams Player of the Year
• 2003 & 2004 Preseason All-RMAC Selection

What makes Williams even more valuable is his willingness to stick his head in there when he's needed. On Sept. 28, against visiting Fort Hays State on Sept. 28, Williams made two touchdown-saving tackles on punt returns.

As if that was not't enough, to clarify Williams' dominance as a punter you must consider the facts. Williams has a 2.8 yard per punt lead on all other Division II punters; is ranked third amongst punters at all levels of college football (Div. I, Div. I-AA, Div. II, Div. III, NAIA and NJCAA). He trails only Michigan State and Northern Arizona punters and has led the nation after four games.

Williams' lead over all RMAC punters is a staggering 5.3 yards per punt. In the process, he has eclipsed the 4-mile mark (7,040) for his career and moved into second place on ASC's all-time punting chart.

Keeping everything into perspective has been something Williams has dealt with recently. With the accolades coming on a weekly basis, Williams remains focused at the task at hand.

"The recognition is overwhelming at times," Williams said. "People start telling me, â€Â˜We need a big game out of you.' It kind of gets to you after a while."

Doing his duties has become a bit more difficult, as the need for Williams' punting services have been declining, primarily due to the fact that the Grizzlies offense has become more proficient moving the football. Against Mesa State last week, Williams was limited to a pair of punts and knows that he must be more focused on his punting during the game.

"I haven't been kicking into a kicking net as much as I should," Williams said. "It's kind of nice having a lot of punts in a game because it gives me a chance to make up if I have a couple of bad punts."

And just in case, those who look at Williams' statistics and figure his success is due to the elevation of Alamosa can forget about the 7,544 feet. In 79 attempts at Rex Stadium, Williams has averaged 43.1 yards per punt (3,408 yards), while he has averaged 45.4 yards on 95 punts (4,312 yards) on the road.

Amazingly, Williams came to Adams State on the advice of his track coach, Candelaria Garcia, who ran for the legendary Coach Joe I. Vigil. Something also quite amazing is the fact that Williams played football as a high school senior.

"Track is what brought me here," Williams said. "I high jumped, long jumped and did the triple jump. Adams State is always ranked pretty high in the nation every year, so you know it's a good program. I also played football, but I really came here as a receiver."

Williams was a redshirt freshman punting the ball with Prichard one day in practice and caught the eye of his coaches. With Prichard being a senior Williams basically fell right into line as the successor. The rest, as they say, is history.

As it stands right now, Williams is attracting the attention of professional football teams and deservedly so. Although the junior intends to return to the Grizzlies for his senior season, the possibility of playing at the next level must been considered.

"I have considered it actually," Williams said. "It's just a matter of waiting for the scouts to see me in a game. The Washington Redskins watched me up at Montana State.

"But I figure I might as well stay here another year. It's an opportunity to get another year of practice under my belt. I'm not in a real rush to leave, but if someone told me I'd be guaranteed a spot (on an NFL roster), I'd probably pack up and go."

Williams will continue to add to his numbers Saturday when Adams State travels to Goodwell, Oklahoma to take on Oklahoma Panhandle State. Kickoff is slated for 12 p.m. (MDT) and can also be heard on KSPK-FM (103.5 in Alamosa) and via the internet at http://www.kspk.com/.