Small in Stature, Huge in Impact : Diminutive Williams Stands Tall in Record Book at Canyon After 2nd 1,000-Yard Rushing Season

Ed Williams’ boyhood dream was playing itself out in reality as if it were on the big screen, complete with Technicolor and Dolby surround-sound stereo.

Starring in this lavish production were the Canyon High football team and Williams--a sleep-deprived, malnourished sophomore making his debut last season as the starting Canyon tailback. Cast in the role of villain was the Hart High team.

The real-life, picture-perfect premiere of Williams’ dream was unfolding during the annual showdown between Canyon and Hart, longtime Santa Clarita Valley rivals.

A lush green field and Friday night’s bright lights provided the scenery. A jam-packed house of 8,000 fans at College of the Canyons served as audience. Williams took one handoff after another and ran the way he had envisioned while toiling as a lineman during his youth football days.

The cheers resonated even louder than he had imagined as he consistently eluded defenders. This was what Williams had longed for as a junior high student when he had to buy a ticket to take in the excitement of a Hart-Canyon football game. Now people were watching him perform.

He could do no wrong.

Then, quicker than you can say “happily ever after,” the screening of “It’s a Wonderful Life” turned into “Life Stinks.” With Canyon driving for the go-ahead touchdown with two minutes to play, Williams fumbled. Hart recovered at its six-yard line and held on for a 32-27 win.

However, lost in the moment was the dazzling performance of a 15-year-old tailback who could neither eat nor sleep the day before his first varsity game, yet rushed for 204 yards and a touchdown in 26 carries.

Williams’ assessment: from sure-fire hero to big-time goat in one slip of the fingers.

“It’s like the first time you go on a ride at Magic Mountain and you think everything is cool until you’re just about to get off the ride and then it hits you in the stomach like, ‘Wham,’ ” Williams said. “I felt I let the whole team down.”

The miscue was difficult for the intense Williams to accept. Fumbling with the game on the line is not something Walter Payton, Williams’ favorite player, would have done. But the mistake helped Williams dedicate himself to becoming an even better player. Today he is a dominating running back and a team leader.

“I believe how we respond to difficult times is a measure of our greatness,” Canyon Coach Harry Welch said. “He faced a very difficult time as a high school athlete in his first game.

“He could have folded, but he didn’t. He has been up ever since.”

True to his coach’s words, Williams put the incident behind him and continued running through, around and, when necessary, over defenses. By season’s end he rushed for 1,572 yards, which happens to be Canyon’s single-season record.

As a sophomore, Williams broke Chris Peery’s school record by more than 100 yards. Williams’ 236 rushing attempts and 19 rushing touchdowns were good for second and third on the single-season list.

Accomplished numbers for an established runner, let alone an underclassman who was not named the starter until the week of the opener when Welch “finally came to my senses a little bit.”

Williams’ assault on the Cowboys’ record book continues.

Entering tonight’s important Foothill League game with Saugus at College of the Canyons, Williams shares the area lead in touchdowns with 17 (14 rushing) and is fourth in rushing with 1,079 yards. At this pace, expect to find his name at or near the top of every Canyon rushing category by the time his career ends.

Saugus Coach Jack Bowman is well aware of Williams’ exploits.

“We’ve seen some real good backs this season, and he’s definitely among the best around,” Bowman said. “He’s not one of the bigger backs, but the thing about him is that he is just so mentally and physically tough.”

Said Hart Coach Mike Herrington, whose team will face Canyon in the final week of the regular season: “For a small guy, he is very durable. He surprises you by how many times he can carry the ball and then break one.”

The diminutive Williams is no longer mistaken for a lineman, although he sometimes is mistaken for himself. Take the perplexed man in a Canyon Country pizza parlor upon meeting Williams earlier this season.

“I had my jersey on and he kind of looked at me funny,” Williams said. “He came up to me and asked, ‘Are you Ed Williams?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ but I wasn’t sure if he believed me because I think he was expecting someone bigger.”

Williams might hit 5-foot-8 while standing on his toes and he weighs in at more than 150 pounds only when in full uniform. He did, however, slug it out in the trenches as a defensive end as a sixth-grader on his first youth team, which is more a testament to his mind-set than an endorsement of his pass-rushing ability.

But make no mistake, this little guy packs a wallop. Able to bench-press 230 pounds and squat 350, Williams is, pound for pound, among Canyon’s strongest players and fiercest blockers.

“I’ve seen him put people a lot bigger than him right on their backs,” quarterback Sean Connelly said. “There are some running backs bigger than him, but he can do all the things they do.”

When not demolishing defenders, Williams often is the recipient of punishment. His body is bent into painful positions in pursuit of yardage that, he hopes, will help Canyon win.

Welch calls Williams, who is not especially fast for a tailback, “an eclectic runner.” Williams’ best 40-yard dash time is only 4.6 seconds. A knack for making even the most tenacious defenders miss helps Williams compensate for lack of great speed.

His surprising strength also enables him to drag opponents for extra yards, and he is seldom brought down from behind. Despite a lack of sprinter’s speed, Williams had a 73-yard run last season, four yards short of the school record.

“Size really doesn’t make a difference, it’s all about how much you want it,” Williams said. “I’ve been small at every level I’ve played, but I’ve done OK. I just work hard and keep comin’ at you. That’s my style.”

In fact, Williams uses his size--or lack of it--to his advantage. He often gets the feeling that some teams look at him and see an easy target.

He changes those attitudes by making big plays with or without the ball. Williams’ success has made him the object of derision. He has been insulted by opponents in a variety of ways, the majority of which are unprintable in a family newspaper.

“It’s all a mind game,” Williams said. “I’ve had people say, ‘We’re going to get you, you little shrimp,’ but I don’t worry about that.”

Payton, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, is the player Williams admires most. Payton, who is retired, was known for his leadership, game-day intensity and rigorous conditioning.

Williams has patterned himself after the man they called “Sweetness.”

He, too, is a leader, having been named co-captain this season along with senior center and buddy, Brian Scheffler. Welch, who builds his teams around seniors, cannot remember the last time he selected a non-senior captain.

Williams is among the first to enter the weight room and the last to leave. During the off-season he runs hills by himself in addition to working out with his teammates.

Around the house, Williams is Mr. Nice Guy Monday through Thursday with his younger brother and sisters--except when he exercises an older brother’s birthright to tease his siblings. However, he is all business Friday.

He has even ignored his dear old dad at times.

“Once, I was standing outside the locker room and his concentration was so intense he was looking right through me,” Ed Williams Sr. said.

“I don’t even know if he knew I was there because he gets very focused when it’s time to play.”

Intensity is something his teammates have come to expect from Williams.

His duties as co-captain require him at times to assume the role of enforcer during practice when trying to persuade wayward members of the Canyon flock to remain focused.

“I have to jump to hit some of the guys in the head,” Williams joked. “Some of them look at me and say, ‘Get this little fly, this little mosquito off of me.’ But they know what I’m trying to do so they respond and pick it up.”

His teammates will follow him anywhere--except for haircuts. Williams is known for what co-captain Scheffler termed “very original hairstyles.”

“I wanted to get one but my parents nixed that idea pretty quick,” Scheffler said.

Currently in vogue is an aerodynamic look, featuring only sideburns and a sliver of hair about a quarter of an inch thick spanning the width of his forehead. The look might change any minute.

For last season’s game with Hart, Williams went the conservative route: completely off on the sides, a little bit on the top and parted to the right. He was, after all, a new kid on the block.

Williams is not saying what type of designs, logos, or numbers will be included for this season’s game with Hart. However, he is hoping the sequel will end on a better note than did the original.

Also on Williams’ mind is his future after high school, specifically college.

Welch realizes that most NCAA Division I schools probably will shy away from Williams because of his lack of size, but the coach views that as a big mistake.

“He might not fit the computer profiles of what (major colleges) want in a running back, but it doesn’t matter because he is just good,” Welch said. “He could play at any level and be successful.”