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By JOHN SCHWARB
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 1, 2000
SEMINOLE -- But Donyelle Williams, the central figure of Seminole High School's undefeated, state-championship-contending football team, is quiet as a mouse. And the 5-foot-6, 175-pound player is more of a racehorse than a plow horse.
Tonight at 7:30, Seminole's Warhawks will take the field against Bradenton Southeast with a Class 4A state semifinal berth on the line, and once again No. 20 will play a major role for the host Seminoles.
But if you don't look carefully, you may miss him.
Williams is one of a smaller breed in today's age of big, bigger and biggest in football. Although he is one of his team's smallest players, he leads the Warhawks in rushing, interceptions and that one intangible that coaches love but cannot, no matter how hard they try, teach: heart.
"You can't take a tape measure and put it around somebody's heart, and that's the key ingredient that he has," Seminole football coach Sam Roper said. "I've seen a lot of guys that were a lot bigger, a lot faster and a lot stronger that never made it because they didn't have the heart and the attitude to go out there and compete.
"He's got it."
No Pinellas County football team has advanced this far in the state playoffs since 1997, but the 2000 Seminole team has excelled largely on the strength of players like Williams, who are anything but overpowering or intimidating.
A few minutes with the senior reveal the quiet, laid-back demeanor that Williams has helped permeate through the entire team. He is happy to talk a little sports and especially some football, but he will not toot his own horn about the team-leading 885 yards and 16 all-purpose touchdowns he amassed during the season.
"It's good to know, but I really don't think about it that much," he said. "We've got a bunch of good running backs, and they're just as good as me."
That same team-oriented attitude has been a basic piece of equipment for Williams throughout a lifetime of sports. A fixture on youth sports fields for more than a decade, Williams has played nearly everything in the area -- soccer, basketball, baseball, track, football. At the high school level, he still plays soccer and baseball, excelling in both.
The competition has been nice, Williams said, but even better have been the bonds developed from all the years of playing.
As a 12-year-old, Williams played on a 12-0 junior league football team along with several of the same teammates who will take the field with him tonight -- Mitch Disney, Joey Fabrizio, Bobby Fox, T.J. Layfield and others.
"We all grew up playing football together, we all know each other and how we play," Williams said. "That helps out a lot."
Williams hardly ever talks on the field. But fellow Warhawks always know where he is, and opponents usually cannot say much while chasing him, so little else needs to be said.
"I don't really say anything to (opponents), if they say something to me. I'm like, "Yeah, whatever," Williams said. "I just like to keep quiet."
His efforts this season have said it all. And tonight, he hopes to quietly earn one more week's worth of work.