Central senior finds home at wide receiver

Central football coach Rich Payne remembers watching Christian Cavaness and Andrew Williams embrace on the sideline after Cavaness tossed a touchdown pass to Williams during last year's Seckman game.

So much for a quarterback controversy.

Williams settled into a new position while Cavaness gained valuable experience under center late last season. Both players credit some of this year's offensive success to the change made during last year's winless campaign.

"It's helped a lot because when you're younger, everything seems like it's so much faster," Cavaness said. "As you get used to it, it just seems like everything is normal speed and you can do so much better with the more experience you have. I've felt like this year I've been more knowledgeable about the game and I know what's going to happen sometimes."

Williams has developed into Cavaness' top target this season. The senior has hauled in 13 passes for 148 yards and four touchdowns, all team highs.

Central senior Andrew Williams leads the Tigers in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns this season. (BOB MILLER)

"He knows he can just throw it up and I'll at least try and go get it," Williams said. "So far I've been successful getting it. He knows when I'm going to cut. I know when he's in trouble so I come back. It's just good communication."

Cavaness has connected with Williams on a couple types of passes. The two hooked up on a 24-yard go route for a touchdown on fourth down against Farmington. They've also found success in the end zone with Cavaness floating a pass near the pylon and the 6-foot-5 Williams corralling it for a score.

"That particular route is very easy to protect and it's very easy to throw," Payne said. "It's one of those things that either Andrew comes down with it or nobody does. It's a safe bet when you get close. But at the same time, he's a tall kid and he can jump. If you have someone who is 5-9 or 5-10 defending him and he's 6-5 and it's a jump ball, let's play jump ball and see who comes down with it."

Cavaness said trust is a big factor in his decision to throw the passes. Williams hasn't failed him yet.

"He's got really good hands," Cavaness said. "He can jump. All I know is it's got to be a halfway decent pass and he'll come down with it."

Central's Andrew Williams tosses the ball to an official after scoring against Farmington during Friday's game in Farmington, Mo.

Williams, now a senior, took over the Tigers' quarterback duties during his sophomore season when the team went 1-9. He continued at that position until midway through last season when Payne started splitting time between Cavaness, then a sophomore, and Williams. Finally, Cavaness started taking the vast majority of snaps.

The two players, who used to sleep over at each other's houses growing up, didn't allow the change to come between them.

"Toward the middle of the season, coach Payne came up to me and talked to me about playing some wide receiver," Williams said about last season. "That's fine with me. I'm happy as long as I get to play in the game. I don't want to stand on the sideline.

"I remember the first game I actually started at wide receiver last year was at Seckman. I remember I came in and I had my first two touchdowns in my first game, and that was just a blast. After that, everyone was just happy."

Williams admits he still loves playing quarterback, but he received a lot of grief and dealt with stress while playing the position last season. The added scrutiny is to be expected, said Andrew's father and Central assistant football coach Steve Williams.

Central senior Andrew Williams moved from quarterback to wide receiver during last season. He's caught 13 passes for 148 yards and four touchdowns this season. (Laura Simon)

"Whether it's Andrew, Christian or Peyton Manning, the quarterback is going to take a lot of grief when you lose," Steve said. "Now he's going to get a lot of praise when you win. That's part of the territory if you want to be the quarterback. Fair or unfair, that's the way it is. Both of those kids had to deal with that last year."

But there was another element to Andrew's struggles. He was forced to deal with the gossip that he was playing quarterback because his father was an assistant coach.

"At times, it just gets to me, especially teammates would say that to me last year," Andrew said. "But it was just something you had to deal with. It can't really get to you."

As the stress became more apparent, the losses continued to mount and Andrew struggled to jumpstart the offense, the Central coaches decided something needed to change. Steve Williams said he discussed it with Payne and they agreed that it was worth giving Cavaness a shot.

"Andrew was having some games where he wasn't very productive in, so it was time to see if Christian could make that move and do as good or better or different," Payne said. "Sometimes, especially when you're struggling, a change is just a change.

"I just told [Andrew] I thought it was time for a change. In some regards, I think it was a semi-relief to him. There was a lot of pressure, so to speak."

Andrew had a little previous experience at wide receiver, and the coaches liked him there because he's tall and athletic.

"He had played some receiver when he was in the youth leagues," Steve said. "He's played tight end and receiver, so he's always had good hands. But that allowed us to get two more athletes on the field. We just sat down and tried to find the best way to get all of our good athletes on the field at once. That seemed like a good way to do it."

The difficult junior season nearly kept Andrew from playing this season.

"I was thinking about doing cross country," Andrew said. "I told my mom, 'I have long legs. I have good endurance. I could probably run for a little bit.' She thought that was the funniest thing ever. I was so down that we went 0-10, I didn't know what to do."

But the more Andrew thought about not playing his senior year, the more he realized that wasn't what he wanted. He remembered going to Central games when he was younger and serving as the ballboy at road games. He had dreamed about diving into the end zone and scoring touchdowns for the Tigers. He remembered starting football in fifth grade and getting drafted by Cavaness' father's team in his second year of youth football. But most importantly, he thought about his friends on the team.

"Last year, I was considering not playing my senior year," Andrew said. "But then I talked to some of my friends and I talked to my dad, and I couldn't give it up. I just like football so much. It was a tough decision."

Even though last year proved difficult, Andrew said he's thankful for the experience.

"I'm kind of glad I went through it because overall that might be a lesson I might be able to use when I'm older with something else," he said. "I had a blast playing quarterback, it's just the numbers and stuff weren't very good. I feel like it was good I played quarterback."

Andrew is thankful he didn't give up on football. He's trying to savor every minute of his senior season, especially since the Tigers are 8-0 heading into tonight's Class 4 District 1 game against Sikeston. In fact, Andrew often is one of the last players to leave the field after a game. He spends time after games talking with friends and soaking in the joy of the Tigers' success.

"It's been going by fast," he said. "Every win, we only get to play like half games. I remember the Jackson game and the Farmington game, it's just so hard to take it in because you've never felt that feeling before. Especially in football, last year, I forgot what it felt like to win. After the New Madrid game, it was incredible. We all stood there in awe. We didn't even want to leave the field because it was the best feeling we had playing football."

Andrew hopes those positive feelings continue tonight, when Central hosts Sikeston at 7 p.m. at Houck Stadium. An enormous crowd is expected, and Central would take another step toward a playoff berth.

"It's probably one of the biggest things this school has had in a while," he said. "It's probably one of the biggest opportunities and we need to go out and take care of it."

He doesn't want to think about how he could have been forced to watch the game from the stands if he'd decided to give up football.

"I'm very happy I kept playing," he said.