Donovan Williams records one of his three sacks against Texas Lutheran earlier this season. The Wildcats won 42-3.
PINEVILLE – What do two all-conference selections, three terms as a team captain, three years on the team unity council, three conference defensive player of the week awards, 220 career tackles, 11 career sacks, three career interceptions, a nonstop motor and the heart of a champion get you? If you’re Louisiana College linebacker Donovan Williams, a native of Vacherie and former standout at St. James High, they get you invited to the D3 Senior Classic in Salem, Va., NCAA Division III’s version of the North vs. South All-Star game.
“It feels pretty good to get to do this,” Williams said. “It’s a special feeling to get to represent this school in an all-star game.”
Special, indeed, given that no player in LC football history has been invited to a senior all-star game.
“Donovan is a tremendous young man,” Louisiana College defensive coordinator Buck Buchanan said. “He’s the kind of person you want to build a defense around.”
And over the last three seasons, the Wildcats have done just that, using Williams in a variety of roles, ranging from safety to outside linebacker to tailback, all in a period in which the LC defense has gone from the bottom of the American Southwest Conference heap to at or near the top in major statistical categories and the team has logged an overall record of 19-11, 7-3 in each of the last two seasons.
“Obviously, Donovan is very deserving of this honor,” LC coach Dennis Dunn said. “It also shows that we are starting to earn people’s respect as a football team. It’s a tremendous honor for this program to have a player selected to this game.”
The game will take place Saturday at 1 p.m. and Williams figures to play at least 50 percent of the defensive snaps, a bit of a change for a man who has been on the field for virtually every defensive snap in his college career in addition to frequent appearances as a tailback in the LC offense’s jumbo package.
“Donovan is one of the most versatile players you’ll find,” Dunn said. “He’s the type of player who can, and did, play in a lot of places. He could have been a great college tailback, but because of his physicality we felt we needed him more on defense. He could cover, play on the line, was a great pass rusher and had a nose for the ball. And he had one of the biggest hearts I’ve seen.”
That heart has been Williams’ calling card since he arrived in Pineville.
“He’s the first man into battle and the last man standing,” Buchanan said. “There’s no in between with him. He’s all-out, every play. It would be hard to measure his heart. In this day and age, it’s hard to find guys like that, but Donovan has done everything we’ve ever asked of him with all his heart. It’s a great honor for him and this team to have him selected.
“And it really is a team honor. You don’t get this type of recognition and awards if we don’t go 7-3.”
Thus, Williams travels to Salem; with the support and of a small school in rural Louisiana and the hopes of other players at the D-III school that they, too, might one day get to showcase their talents on a national level.
“I’m looking forward to this,” Williams said. “I hope I can go out and represent this school well and show everyone that I can play. Even though we come from a small little D-III school, we can still play ball at Louisiana College.”