Johnny Williams was playing Pop Warner football when Caleb King first laid eyes on him.
King had already coached Williams’ older brother, Josh, at Havelock (NC) High School. Josh Williams was a two-way standout for the Rams’ 2018 squad, rushing for 826 yards and making 123 tackles for a 13-1 team that reached the state 3-A finals.
But one look at Johnny Williams and King couldn’t resist some good-natured needling of Josh.
“I told him,’ Hey, why is your little brother way better than you?’ That’s really what I told him,” said King, who is now offensive coordinator at Havelock. “So, we’ve known about Johnny for a long time. He’s just one of those guys you know is going to be special.”
Johnny Williams has more than lived up to King’s expectations. He’s played wide receiver, defensive back, quarterback and returned kicks during a three-year varsity career highlighted by a stellar junior season in which he led Havelock to a 13-1 record and the state 3-A championship game.
East Carolina, which is located 63 miles northwest of Havelock, was one of the first colleges to recognize Williams’ talent. The Pirates were the second program to offer him a scholarship on June 13, 2023. He took unofficial visits to campus several times over the next year before making an official visit June 6. Williams offered a verbal commitment to play wide receiver for ECU two days later on June 8.
Williams also received scholarship offers from Appalachian State, Bethune-Cookman, Boston College, Bryant, Buffalo, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Connecticut, Elon, James Madison, Liberty, Old Dominion and West Virginia. But ECU was always ahead of the pack.
“The whole time they were my number one school recruiting me,” Williams said. “They were coming at me the most. But going on that (official) visit made me realize it was a family thing (at ECU). I felt comfortable about the situation on and off the field. And on the visit, they made my mom feel real comfortable about me going there. My mom hadn’t been to East Carolina with me before. She felt really good about the situation, and they made her feel comfortable.”
Family and football have gone together for Williams since he first stepped on a football field in Georgia. The family lived there, moving to Havelock when Williams was in the first grade. Inspired by his older brother, he started his career playing arena football.
“I didn’t start falling in love with football until I saw my brother play,” Williams said. “I used to watch him play arena ball and travel ball. He was the man there and I wanted to be like him. That really inspired me to get on the field. And God just blessed me with the talent I have today.”
“Cash,” as he’s known to teammates, was already a rising star when King first encountered him playing Pop Warner football. He made his varsity debut at Havelock in 2021, catching a 29-yard pass in the only game he played that season.
Williams emerged as a main contributor at receiver in 2022 for a 10-2 club that reached the second round of the state 3-A playoffs. He ranked second to N.C. State tight end signee Javonte Vereen in receiving with 27 catches for 694 yards and eight touchdowns. The performance would result in his first scholarship offer from Boston College in August 2022.
Havelock would start the 2023 season with Williams at receiver. But with limited opportunities to get the ball in his hands at receiver, Williams moved to quarterback early in the season.
“He’s so dynamic with the ball in his hands,” King said. “So, the easiest way to get it to him was to snap it to him every play.
“Johnny has such a high football IQ. He’s kind of able to do anything. He’s going to do whatever he can to help the team. He’s a team-first guy. He didn’t come to us about not getting the ball enough. I went to him and said, ‘Hey man, we’re not getting you the ball enough. We’re going to have to snap it to you.’ He said, ‘ Whatever you need me to do coach.’ We were 13-1 and he was a huge, huge part of that.”
Williams would complete 80 of 134 passes for 995 yards and nine touchdowns, rush 129 times for 1,333 yards and 16 scores and caught 14 passes for 123 yards and another touchdown. He also contributed 179 yards on kickoff returns and 79 yards on punt returns. The performance earned Williams the New Bern Sun Journal’s Offensive Player of the Year honor.
Featured in those stats are endless numbers of big plays and performances. But perhaps his biggest outing came in late October against Greenville’s Rose High School when he piled up 224 yards rushing on just 12 carries and scored twice. One of those runs was an 80-yarder for a touchdown that King cited as a great example of Williams’ talent.
“He took the first play from scrimmage against Rose to the house,” King said. “It wasn’t blocked real well. But he was able to avoid contact and then run away from guys who can really run. That’s the biggest thing. He breaks away from people who can really run. He’s a guy you’ve got to keep bottled up. With the situation we’re going into this fall he’ll be back at receiver. He’s going to be a dangerous, dangerous man with the ball in his hands.”
King compares Williams favorably to another Havelock great, former South Carolina and NFL receiver Pharoah Cooper. Like Williams, Cooper played multiple positions for the Rams and was actually recruited by the Gamecocks as a defensive back before moving to receiver.
“He’s probably as close to Pharoah as we’ve had in a long, long time,” King said. “His demeanor is a lot like Pharoah’s was in the sense that his teammates love him. That was the biggest thing about Pharoah. His teammates loved him, and they would do anything for him. I think the same thing about Johnny. People on our team go out of the way to block for Johnny because they truly love him.”
Williams is excited to bring his talents to Greenville, but first he’s focused on winning a state championship with the Rams.
“That is the expectation for us,” he said. “We know what kind of team we have. So, we want that ring. This is the best chemistry we’ve had in my whole high school career. I feel like we’re going to shock a lot of people this season.”
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