Nature Coast duo splits to play football in college
By VINCENT THOMAS
Published June 15, 2006
With Jon Woodbury's mother and Rian Williams' grandmother in the school's conference room, the two Nature Coast football players watched as coach Jamie Joyner finished up their last bit of college paperwork. Wednesday, Woodbury and Williams made their college intentions final.
In a couple months, they are headed to opposite ends of the country: Woodbury north to Sheboygan, Wis., to suit up for Lakeland College; and Williams west to Los Angeles to play for Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif.
Williams can't wait to go. Woodbury said he's going to try to stall as long as possible. That Wisconsin winter is already hovering like impending doom.
"I'm going to try to make this summer last as much as I can," Woodbury said.
Woodbury is set to join former Nature Coast quarterback Billy Hughes at Lakeland, a powerhouse Division III program that has won the Illini-Badger Conference two seasons in a row. Woodbury will try to carve out some playing time as a wide receiver. There's also an opportunity to make the basketball team as a walk-on.
Hughes was Woodbury's in, sort of. Last year, representatives from Lakeland attended a Florida recruiting fair. They offered scholarships to about seven players from the state. All but one returned home.
"Hughes was the only one to stick it out," said Joyner. "So this year they said they weren't going to waste their time coming down, but since Hughes didn't bail, they told me I should send tapes of any of our players that we thought they should look at."
Joyner said Lakeland was immediately impressed with Woodbury. After weighing a couple options - Maryville College in Tennessee, St. Lawrence University in New York - Woodbury settled on Lakeland.
"They seemed like nice people, a nice program," the soft-spoken Woodbury said.
Williams is confident he's going to succeed in California. Asked if he was worried about the competition in the Western State Conference, home to junior colleges that attract a lot of talent looking to hop to Division I and II, he smiled and shook his head no. He said he's a workhorse and that's why Pierce wanted him. There is the issue of his injured knee, but he plans to have surgery later this month to take care of it.
Williams' grandmother, Maggie Goodson, seated across from him at the signing, said she's anxious for her grandson to leave the nest and experience something other than Ssouth Brooksville.
After Williams said he was excited about leaving, Goodson responded, "Praise God."
