Southeast’s Dequan Williams overcomes knee injuries, size to become defensive force

When teammate Darrien Grant received three ACC football offers during the summer, Dequan Williams kept grinding.

When Southeast’s offense needed time to find its groove to begin the regular season, Williams continued anchoring the Seminoles’ ferocious defense.

“He’s an explosive kid,” Southeast head coach Rashad West said. “He’s got a motor, man. He plays with a different level of intensity.”

Last Friday, Williams posted his third straight three-sack game and leads all Manatee County defenders with 10 sacks this season.

Morphing into one of the area’s best defensive players began when he was a freshman.

At the time, Williams weighed 120 pounds and stood 5-foot-11. A future as the area’s preeminent pass rusher seemed as unlikely as a Florida summer without rain.

Yet, Williams delivered in the weight room and put on the pounds. He grew a little, too. Now he’s an edge rusher who plays outside linebacker in a vaunted Southeast front seven that’s kept the Seminoles in games throughout the season, even against bigger schools like Palmetto.

“After the first time I go up against a defender, I see their tendencies and how they work,” Williams said. “After you see that the first time, you can just exploit the rest of the game.”

It’s worked with 27 tackles, 20 tackles for a loss, 10 sacks, 13 hurries, one fumble caused, one fumble recovery and one pass defended through four games this season.

And Williams’ explosion off the ball comes from his time in another sport, too.

Last spring, Williams finished 12th in the Class 2A state track meet for the shot put when he only weighed 190 pounds.

“When you’re less than 190 pounds, that’s pretty good,” West said. “That’s pretty good power.”

Last season, Williams was a Herald All-Area First Team selection. But getting there meant switching positions upon joining the Southeast varsity team four years ago.

Williams was undersized for the line at 120 pounds. He had never played outside linebacker during his youth football career, so he needed to be taught.

“I just did what they taught me and look at what it got me,” Williams said.

From there, though, Williams suffered two injuries to his knee early in his varsity career and he needed to overcome them to become a standout in his senior season this fall.

“They were tough and rigorous to overcome, because they hurt mentally and physically,” Williams said. “But I wasn’t going to let something like that mess me up so I fought through it, and completed my exercises and got my strength back and everything else. Because I didn’t wanna give up, I want to be great. And that wouldn’t stop me.”

Now Williams is a 6-foot-1, 207-pound senior and he’s generating buzz.

“That’s what we’ve been getting people to realize is he’s the right sized kid,” West said. “He’s going to start getting more attention.”

Williams also oozes confidence on the field. When he was smaller, Williams battled offensive lineman Michael “Big Mike” Davis, who was a Southeast senior at 6-foot-4 and 302 pounds last year.

Going up against Davis in practice helped that confidence and developed his talent to not fear any opponent.

“That’s how you gotta think if you want to be the best,” Williams said. “... You’ve got to think nobody is going to stop you.”

So far in 2016, very few, if any, have.

This story was originally published October 7, 2016 at 6:49 PM with the headline "Southeast’s Dequan Williams overcomes knee injuries, size to become defensive force."