Few football players ever achieve All-American status. The number is even fewer when it comes to high school players from Oklahoma.
Greg Williams achieved such status, however, following a brilliant career at Durant High School and is still recognized as the lone Lion in gridiron history to receive that distinguished honor.
Williams will join Jim Ely and the DHS 1923 football as 2012 inductees into the Durant Athletic Hall of Fame at 7:10 Friday evening prior to the Lions’ district football game with Tulsa Bishop Kelley at Paul Laird Field.
During his final two high school campaigns Williams was a terror on both sides of the football for Coach Gib Dolezal‘s Lions, culminating a fine career as a four-year letterman both on the gridiron as well as on the baseball diamond.
In 1983, Williams was the anchor of an outstanding offensive line at center that helped propel the Lions to a 14-1 record and Class 3A state championship with a 14-0 win over Bristow. He was also a key cog of a stellar defensive unit that pitched six shutouts, including three in the playoffs, while holding every opponent to 13 points or less. That included a pair of wins over rival Ada.
Williams’ senior year of 1984 the Lions were bumped to Class 4A but continued their success with a terrific 9-4 finish that carried them to playoff wins over perennial powers Carl Albert and Lawton MacArthur before falling to powerful Duncan, 41-14 in the state semifinals.
In addition to starting at center and defensive tackle, he also handled the squad’s placekicking duties as well, connecting on 12 field goals in his career, including a career long 43-yarder.
The 1985 DHS grad was a force on the defensive front, notching 157 career tackles, 12 quarterback sacks, 10 forced fumbles while also blocking three punts. He was the district Defensive Player of the Year as a senior while also garnering all-district recognition at center.
His honors were numerous, picking up All-State recognition from the Oklahoma Coaches Association, Daily Oklahoman and Tulsa World before capturing the top award given in the nation at the time as a Bally First-Team High School All American at center.
Williams’ success continued on to the collegiate ranks where he received a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma where he played for Barry Switzer’s Sooners as a center, including participating on the squad’s national championship season in his first campaign.
He went on to an honorary career with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol where he still serves. In 2011 the DHS graduate was recognized as the OHP’s State Trooper of the Year.
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