Greg Tunnicliff
Sports Scene
Grand Blanc – The start of basketball practice has always been an exciting time for Grand Blanc senior Bart Williams.
In time, the thrill of making a clutch jump shot or a layup will return. But right now, he is focused on helping Grand Blanc’s football team get back on its feet.
On September 7, the Bobcats’ two-year starting quarterback was 17 of 26 passing for 209 yards and three touchdowns and led Grand Blanc to its first win of the season, a 35-13 victory at Milford. Through three games, the Bobcats were 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West Division.
“It’s crazy how much work we put in, leading up to these nine weeks,” Williams said. “It’s totally worth it. I wouldn’t give it up for anything.”
Growing up, Williams always figured basketball would be his calling, not football. The thought of lining up under center one day for Grand Blanc wasn’t even in his thought process.
When he first went out for football in sixth grade, he played running back, not quarterback. An ankle injury prematurely ended that season and kept him off the field the following year.
When he decided to give the gridiron another try in eighth grade, he had grown to 6’3″ and 140 pounds, making him too big to be a running back. So, he decided to give quarterback a try.
“I was pretty lanky and my speed had fallen off,” Williams said. “I figured I might as well give quarterback a try, and the coaches immediately saw I was pretty good throwing the ball. The coaches took me under their wings and coached me up.”
Not only did Williams immediately grasp the Bobcats’ wide-open offense – he threw for six touchdowns in a junior varsity game – but he also had a good mentor in former Grand Blanc standout quarterback Ryan Morley. Morley was a four-year starter who passed for a school-record 6,702 yards from 2007-10. He ranks second on the Flint-area career passing yardage list.
When it was his turn to call Grand Blanc’s signals, the 6’5″ Williams picked up where Morley had left off. In 15 games as the Bobcats’ starter, he has been extremely efficient, completing 294 of 504 passes (58 percent) for 4,047 yards and 43 touchdowns.
He is one of only 10 boys in Flint-area history to pass for 4,000 or more yards. He currently ranks ninth on the list, 29 shy of Mt. Morris’ Ryan LaVictoire (4,076) and 71 away from Brandon’s Shane Mahaffy (4,118).
The area record is held by Linden’s Cody Marks, who threw for a whopping 7,906 yards from 2007-09.
“His vision is phenomenal,” Grand Blanc coach Joe Delaney said. “He is one of the best kids I’ve had that can hit his third and fourth reads consistently. He sees things that other guys can’t. It’s one of those things you can’t teach.”
Williams wasted little time making his presence known, completing 226 of 387 passes for an area single-season record 3,210 yards and 37 touchdowns as a junior.
His yardage total broke the previous standard of 3,138 set by Marks in 2009, and his touchdown passes broke the previous record of 35 set by Bendle’s Brett Combs in 2003.
With Williams leading the way, Grand Blanc posted a 9-3 overall record and won a share of the KLAA West title.
“It was probably the best 12 weeks of my life,” Williams said. “It was something I’ll never forget. It shows you what you can do if you listen to your coaches.”
The bigger the game, the better Williams seems to play. He was nearly flawless in Grand Blanc’s three postseason contests last year, going 84 of 135 (62 percent) for 1,088 yards and 13 touchdowns.
He was 33 of 54 passing for 413 yards and five touchdowns while leading Grand Blanc to a 59-52 triple overtime victory over state-ranked Holt in a Division 1 district first-round contest.
The following week, he was 17 of 33 for 340 yards and five more scores to lead the Bobcats to a 49-35 win over Midland in a district championship game.
“That’s the most impressive thing,” Delaney said of Williams’ big-game performances. “When you’re in the playoffs, you’re playing some doggone good competition. What he did in those games says a lot about him.”
Williams is listed as a three-star prospect by rivals.com. Central Michigan University sent a coach to a Grand Blanc practice recently and the University of Dayton and Grand Valley State University have also expressed interest in him.
While he has put up some video-game numbers, his best stat may be his smallest – 18 sacks taken in two seasons. When Williams drops back, rarely does he go down. If he can’t find an open receiver, he usually can run and pick up a few yards.
“He gets back in the pocket and he feels so comfortable,” Delaney said. “He’ll hang on to the ball and trust the people in front of him. No happy feet.”
Flint-area career passing leaders
Yards Name School (s) Years played
7,906 Cody Marks, Linden, 2007-09
6,702 Ryan Morley, Grand Blanc, 2007-10
5,939 Drew Schaft, Lapeer East/Davison, 2000-03
5,106 Dustin Mayner, Linden, 2004-06
4,986 Garret Cook, Genesee, 2007-09
4,623 Scott Winterlee, Mt. Morris, 1986-88
4,118 Shane Mahaffy, Brandon, 2008-11
4,076 Ryan LaVictoire, Mt. Morris, 1991-92
4,047 Bart Williams, Grand Blanc, 2011-12
4,012 Steve Smith, Swartz Creek/Grand Blanc, 1977-79