Steel Valley's Williams is Offensive Player of the Year

Before his senior season, the jury was still out on the direction of Steel Valley running back Delrece Williams’ future as a collegiate football player.

While Williams was completely dedicated to carrying the football at the next level, many recruiters saw his potential as most highly accentuated from the slot receiver position or in the defensive backfield.

“They knew he was athletic,” former Ironmen coach Ray Braszo, who led the team during Williams’ first three seasons, said. “A lot of times it seems that people want those real good athletes to also be able to play defense. They’re always looking for that kind of help. They probably believed that if he’s not the running back, he could go two ways.”

After the season Williams unfurled this fall, however, that debate should now most certainly be over.

Williams shattered Steel Valley’s single-season rushing record by gaining 2,388 yards and a WPIAL-best 34 touchdowns in leading the Ironmen to a 7-3 overall record, a 5-2 mark in the Century Conference and a trip to the Class AA playoffs.

For also setting the all-time WPIAL regular season rushing record at 2,149 yards, Williams is the 2010 Daily News Offensive Player of the Year.

Woodland Hills running back Lafayette Pitts, Clairton quarterback Desimon Green and McKeesport Area running back Sam Gooden were also considered for this year’s honors.

“It was really important for me to go out like this,” the 5-foot-11, 185-pound senior said. “I felt like I went out with a bang. This was my goal to go out of my senior season with a bang and hopefully get a scholarship.”

Although Braszo didn’t get to catch many of his former player’s games because he was coaching in his first season back at West Mifflin Area, Williams’ heavy offensive output came as no surprise.

“He was talented from ninth grade on when we had him,” Braszo, who previously coached the Titans for 17 seasons before his four-year stint at Steel Valley, said. “He was obviously going to be a good running back. It was just a matter of staying healthy and staying with it and working hard.”

“He’s kind of a natural talent, to go with the great personality he has, we thought he could be successful.”

And Williams’ success in his final high school campaign was nearly unparalleled around the WPIAL.

In ten games, he broke the 200-yard rushing barrier eight times.

Following a 215-yard, three-touchdown performance to lead the Ironmen to a critical 21-0 victory at Keystone Oaks in Week 7, Williams exploded for a career-best 342-yard, eight-touchdown showing at Quaker Valley the following week.

“That was a big game,” Williams said of facing Keystone Oaks. “They were a tough opponent. A lot of people were sleeping on them, but it was a make-or-break type game for us two. We stepped up to the plate.”

Williams would round out his regular season by racking up 317 yards and four touchdowns against South Allegheny before rushing for 236 yards and three scores in a crushing 19-18 loss to Beaver Falls in the first round of the WPIAL Class AA postseason.

“There wasn’t a game that we played this year that we didn’t have an opportunity to win,” first-year Steel Valley coach Rod Steele said.

With such consistently staggering rushing totals, the closest running back to approach Williams’ yardage totals was Hopewell junior Rushel Shell.

During his historic regular season, Williams carried the ball 222 times at a clip of 9.7 yards per carry, while Shell finished 47 yards behind him with 2,102 yards on 262 attempts — good for eight yards per carry.

Shell finished with 2,510 yards for the season after playing one more playoff game than Williams.

“(Delrece) has the work ethic and the inner drive,” Steele said. “He’s determined to be a good football player.”

Steele hasn’t been the only one to notice.

Since the beginning of the season, Williams has received considerable recruiting interest from West Virginia, UConn, Bowling Green, Illinois, Michigan State and Pitt.

When he receives his SAT scores in the next few weeks, Steele expects many — if not every one of those schools — to offer Williams a scholarship.

“He did a lot between the tackles,” Steele, who previously coached running backs at Pittsburgh Central Catholic, said. “He’s not that 4.4 kid that’s going to line up and just run right past you, but he has the intangibles as far as having great vision, great cutting ability, recognizing what goes on around him. That’s what makes him such a great athlete — a great running back.”

Williams will round out his high school football career when he takes part in the 2011 Offense-Defense All-American Bowl at Doug Shaw Stadium in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The game, which has featured Heisman Trophy winning Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, former Notre Dame and Seattle Seahawks receiver Golden Tate, along with Dallas Cowboys rookie receiver Dez Bryant, will be televised live on Versus at 4 p.m. on Friday.

Such exposure could only do wonders for Williams’ status on the national recruiting scene.

“He’s everything any coach would want in a running back,” Steele said. “I said it once, I’ll say it again, Delrece Williams could’ve lined up and played in the backfield for any team in the WPIAL. He has those intangibles and he’s determined to be great.”

“If there is any coach out there who is looking for a competitor,” he added. “Delrece Williams is the guy they want.”

To get to this point, though, Williams certainly has his teammates and coaches to thank.

That camaraderie will be the most lasting impact felt from his career with the Ironmen.

“I couldn’t do it all by myself,” Williams said.

“My line had a big part to do with it. It was a team effort. My team helped me become the player that I am.”

By John Santa, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, December 29, 2010