Mason Williams a brilliant athlete for Mogadore

ATH.

More and more these days, those three letters pop up on a football roster.

There are wide receivers and running backs, linemen and linebackers, defensive backs and quarterbacks, and then there are players marked as ATH, short for athlete.

And there's probably never been a more accurate descriptor of Mason Williams.

The Mogadore senior started his high school career as a defensive lineman and tight end, and was so good at the latter that he became Wildcats' first Division I commit in ages when he signed with Ohio University.

Then, midway through last season, star running back Tyler Knight suffered a season-ending injury, and on came Williams to run the ball — and it turned out he was also one of the best running backs in Portage County.

"I think what surprises people is he's not just some big plow horse," Mogadore coach Matt Adorni said. "He can make moves. When he gets loose, he's a naturally talented runner, and it's not just him being big and running over kids. He makes moves in the hole. He's got great feet for a big kid."

So in football roster terminology, Williams became a RB/TE/DL.

Oh, and P, because one day when he was a freshman, Williams just happened to pick up a football and boot it roughly 50 yards down the field.

And thus began his punting career for the Wildcats.

"He does all of the phases of the game well," Adorni said. "What's so impressive about him is he's blocking when the ball is out of his hand, he makes some dirty-work plays on defense where maybe he doesn't make the tackle, but he took on a double team and somebody behind him makes the tackle. It's those little things that make him a complete football player."

And then there's the fact that Williams is also an all-conference player in basketball and baseball.

But all of that can simply be described in one word.

Williams is quite simply an ATH.

Mason Williams steps up at running back

When Knight went down last season with a Lisfranc injury, the Wildcats leaned on the hard running of Will Butler, and they also decided to give Williams, their star tight end, some carries.

It wasn't exactly a shot in the dark.

The discussions about what exactly to do with a unicorn like Williams, who could play seemingly any position, had begun his freshman year. Moreover, Williams played running back for most of his youth football career. Still, it was a new position for the then-junior, at least when it came to high school football.

"It's definitely a different position to learn at the high school level, different speed and everything," Williams said. "You have to learn where you're blocking when you don't have the ball, where to go when you do have the ball. It took a little bit to get used to where I'm going, but just getting back into that running back spot wasn't too hard."

The returns were handsome last season, including a wild six-touchdown performance in a regional semifinal against LaBrae.

And Williams has been just as big this season, particularly in the biggest games, when Mogaore has leaned on him hardest.

That includes a 14-carry, 205-yard performance last week in the Region 21 semifinals against Cuyahoga Heights that put him over 1,400 rushing yards for the season (along with 22 rushing touchdowns).

"Being able to be someone they rely on every time whenever we need some yardage is definitely a great feeling," Williams said. "Knowing that they can give me the ball and I'm going to go out there and do my thing and do what they need me to do, it's definitely exhausting, but it's definitely also a great feeling being able to put all that on my shoulders."

What Williams is putting on his shoulders is remarkable.

Especially given that he's playing through a torn labrum.

"The kid is doing all of this with an injury that puts a lot of guys out for the year," Adorni said. "There's some times the pain has got to him in some games and [we] had to pull him out, and he works it out and guts it and sticks it out and goes back in."

Mason Williams, family have a deep love of sports

Enter the Williams' house and there's likely a game on.

Enter the basement and it's like stepping into a museum.

"Our whole basement is like a shrine of athletics and sports, not just football but all sports," Williams said. "Basketball, football, baseball but, yeah, I mean, if you come home and there's a football game on TV, it's on the TV at all times."

That's no surprise given Williams is from a family of athletes.

His father, Chris, played three sports in high school (football, basketball and baseball) and went on to play football for Toledo.

His mother, Theresa, was also a three-sport athlete in high school (volleyball, basketball and softball) and played college volleyball for the Rockets.

His older brother, Austin, played football, basketball and baseball for the Wildcats, and having completed his college football career at Ashland University, is now serving as an assistant coach with the Wildcats.

Mason was seemingly destined to follow in their path.

By bloodline and by size.

Long before Williams towered over most of his teammates and opponents at Mogadore Memorial Stadium, he had the same stature in youth football.

"I've always been a little bigger than everyone else," Williams said. "Back in youth, they have those weight limits [where] you can't run the ball. I've always had to stay under, like just cut right beneath those. Like if it was 150, I was 149 every game."

Like his older brother and parents, Williams pursued numerous sports.

Come winter, he's established himself as an unusually athletic center, with the grit and strength to battle on the boards and the athleticism to drift beyond the arc and drain 3-pointers.

Come spring, he's a heck of a hitter and pitcher.

Still, with his torn labrum and college football looming, one would think Williams is probably done in Kelly green whenever undefeated Mogadore's season comes to an end.

But then you must not know Williams.

"The plan is to still play basketball and baseball and everything and see when that time fits in to get the surgery," Williams said. "I'm not 100% sure when that's going to be, but my hopes are that we can still play basketball and baseball this year."

He is an ATH, after all.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Mason Williams a brilliant athlete for Mogadore football