DK Williams saw his teammates celebrating with the student body from afar and smiled.
Politely, he decided to sit this one out.
“I can barely walk,” the Beech senior running back/linebacker said. “Both my calves are cramping.”
Williams worked himself to the bone in Beech’s 35-34 nailbiter win at East Nashville on Sept. 10 of the TSSAA football season, saving just enough energy for a 25-yard touchdown run that proved to be the winner in the final two minutes.
But he’d rather be worn out than sitting out.
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That’s where Williams found himself for Beech (3-1) three weeks ago in the season opener, as one of eight Rockvale and Beech players who served a one-game suspension for their part in an on-field altercation after a July 31 preseason scrimmage.
Williams wears his heart on his sleeve, and Beech coach Anthony Crabtree thinks that’s a good thing. Harnessing that emotion is the key to performances like the one Williams had against East Nashville (2-2), where he rushed for 179 yards and three TDs and made big plays on defense.
“He’s very passionate about playing the game of football,” Crabtree said. “We’ve had to try to reel him back a little bit and get him to understand when to express those emotions and when he has to shut that off. We’re still working on that, but he’s doing better.”
Williams said he had to reset mentally after missing the first game of his senior season. He’s never hidden from his mistake.
“Look, I messed up. I’m a leader and that shouldn’t have happened. It was stupid of me. But I had to bounce back from that. I had to ball out. I had to show that that isn’t who I am,” Williams said. “There’s no trick to it. If I don’t close my mouth, I don’t play football. And I can’t be on the sideline.”
Crabtree had to rest Williams on both sides of the ball as both teams began to swap scores. That meant less time for him on offense in the first half and even a little time off at linebacker, too, until an injury to sophomore JW Long forced Williams to play defense for most snaps.
East Nashville limited Beech four-star athlete Jeramy Laster Jr., forcing Crabtree to give Williams even more carries as he and Devin Crutcher (176 yards rushing, two TDs) took over the offense.
Trailing 34-28 in the fourth quarter, Beech faced a fourth-and-five with 2:01 left when Williams pulled away for the go-ahead touchdown.
“I was licking my chops,” Williams said. “I said, ‘Let me run this ball in, bro, please.’ Then I saw (Beech quarterback) Sawyer (Phillips) come in smiling, he looked at me. I was like ‘Oh yeah, that’s me.’ So, I had to do something with it.”
Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83.
He also contributes to The Tennessean's high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg. Subscribe to The Bootleg here.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Beech's DK Williams grew from TSSAA football suspension
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