PREP PRESEASON : Lions look to transfer QB Williams to lead offense
Prattville quarterback JJ Williams rolls out behind the blocking of Tristin Blackmon during a recent scrimmage. The Lions open the 2025 season at Cramton Bowl against Pike Road. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
The statistics are pretty impressive, numbers that show the versatility of Prattville High’s new quarterback.
But here are the numbers that are the most impressive. Over the last two seasons, as JJ Williams provided an offensive spark to Catholic’s offense, the Knights were 29-0 and won two state championships.
“I’ve coached quarterbacks that have gone through their careers and not lost, so I get it,” Prattville coach Bobby Carr said. “He understands what it takes to be successful, so we put a lot on him. JJ was kind of like the Swiss Army knife last year for Catholic. He did a little bit of everything. For us, we’ve asked him to step in and take over at quarterback and he’s done a great job. We put a lot of pressure on him and he handles the pressure well and has done a good job of being the leader we need him to be.”
After watching the Catholic coaching staff leave for another job in Alexander City and several of the players transfer to other schools, Williams elected to remain in his hometown of Prattville and finish out his career with the Lions.
“Living in Prattville, I wanted to be on a bigger stage,” Williams said. “My head coach left and went to Ben Russell, so I saw a chance to go play in a bigger classification in my hometown.”
Whether the Lions are successful this season depends on a variety of factors that have nothing to do with Williams and a few more that depend on his production on the field. But an equally important factor is his leadership off the field. He knows how to win. And no matter how much the Lions want to win, none of their players understand what it takes like Williams.
“They’re big on me,” Williams said. “I think I can handle it. I want to win. And I know Prattville wants to win as well. Me wanting to win, they’re wanting to win, I think we’re going to have a great season this year.”
In 2023, Williams emerged as Catholic quarterback Caleb McCreary’s favorite target, catching 32 passes for 458 yards and three touchdowns. He stepped in for McCreary after a mid-season ankle injury sidelined the quarterback for a couple of games. While at quarterback, Williams rushed 24 times for 251 yards and four touchdowns while completing 11 of 25 passes for 93 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.
In 2024, projected Catholic starter Kingston Preyear suffered a broken thumb a week before the season opener and Williams quickly shifted from receiver and took over as the Knights’ quarterback through the first half of the season, completing 49 of 72 passes for 703 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception. He also rushed 56 times for 388 yards and 15 touchdowns last season. When Preyear returned for the second half of the season, Williams moved out to receiver and caught 26 passes for 580 yards and seven touchdowns.
“We’re still going to put a lot of that (expectation) on him, it’s just playing the same position,” Carr said. “He probably won’t catch many balls unless we have a trick play or something. He’s an athlete playing quarterback, he throws the ball really well, he does a good job of getting the ball into our athletes’ hands and has been a great leader up until this point.”
As the Lions prepare for the season opener against Pike Road in the annual Kickoff Classic at Cramton Bowl on Aug. 21, Williams’ leadership in practice is crucial for a new coaching staff trying to instill a winning mentality in their players.
“JJ’s probably the second most vocal leader, after Callahan (Minor).” said Prattville senior tailback Tristin Blackmon. “And him coming from a winning program, he just inspires us to be like he was at Catholic and how they were, winning every time they stepped out on the field.
While football workouts are essentially the same at every school, Williams admits practice at Prattville High has a little different feel.
“The workouts are a little harder,” he said. “It’s a little bigger so you’ve got to focus on more things, but it’s not really too different at all.”
All eyes will be on Williams this fall as he leads the Prattville offense into battle each Friday. Whether it’s fair or not, there will be a lot of expectations from teammates and fans alike who expect his winning mentality to instill confidence in the Lions as they attempt to earn their first playoff berth since 2021.
“I do think I need to be more vocal with them because of the (lack of postseason success in the) previous seasons,” Williams said. “And where I came from, I was very vocal so I’m going to bring that here because it worked over there. So I know it’ll work over here.”