Morgan State junior defensive lineman Elijah Williams raced through the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia on Sept. 23, swirling around UAlbany quarterback Reese Poffenbarger like a hurricane.
“Tropical storm, whatever — it’s just football,” Williams said. “We can play in whatever they give us — whether it’s snow, rain, a little bit of hail. That quarterback did a good job, but I’m just trying to hold on as much as I can.”
The Jersey City, N.J., native did more than simply hold on. He chopped at the hands of offensive linemen, lunged toward Poffenbarger and kept him off his game all night. Poffenbarger finished the game 10-for-23 (43.5 percent) for 142 yards and two touchdown passes, while Williams finished with a game-high 12 total tackles (3.5 for loss) and 2.5 sacks. The Bears ultimately fell, 23-17, but the defensive lineman left it all on the field and then some.
Morgan head coach Damon Wilson believes that Williams consistently making the right play will eventually lead to more days like the one he had against the Great Danes.
“He might not make a lot of splash plays, but he’s always going to grade out at a high grade because he’s going to be in position and make the plays that he’s supposed to make and force some other plays back over to others,” Wilson said. “He’s going to grade high — typically because nine out of ten times, he’ll be in the right position. It’s a matter of if it’s his play to make or someone else’s. He’s going to make the plays that he’s going to make.”
This isn’t the first time the 6-foot-3, 270-pound lineman has had success at the collegiate level. He started every game as a linebacker during his freshman season, finishing fourth on the team with 52 tackles (seven for loss). He led the squad with four sacks and five quarterback hurries.
Wilson began his tenure with Morgan State in 2022 and soon realized that Williams wasn’t necessarily a fit at linebacker in defensive coordinator Antone’ Sewell’s scheme. Wilson, Sewell and defensive line coach Ramal Faunteroy envisioned Williams succeeding at defensive end in Morgan’s scheme.
“Just off his body type — he’s got the size to do it,” Faunteroy said. “They had him playing linebacker, some in the box and some 3-4 outside linebacker as well. But the one thing about him was that he played hard, he played with a motor and he flashed some playmaking abilities. … He was one of the guys that we said, ‘He’s got the size.’ We both know what it looks like and what it feels like because you think about what Coach Sewell has done at his previous stops with defensive linemen and defensive ends and we made that move.”
Williams didn’t flinch. He was “the ultimate team player” when making the switch ahead of his sophomore season in 2022, according to Faunteroy. Though he was entering an unknown with a new coaching staff, he decided to stay at Morgan State and trust the process.
Not only did Williams take on the challenge, but he excelled in it, taking his production to new heights. He tallied 60 tackles, including 19 for loss, and nine sacks. He was named a first-team All-MEAC defensive lineman by the conference and Phil Steele.
In 2023, he made his presence known against an FBS opponent. On Sept. 9 at Akron, Williams bullied the Zips’ offensive line for six total tackles (all solo) with two sacks. The junior has 31 tackles, 4.5 sacks and one forced fumble entering Morgan’s game against NC Central on Oct. 19.
Williams describes his game as “physically dominant,” a run-stopper who can also get to the quarterback. It began with his diligent training during each offseason with Morgan State, running up and down flights of stairs, pushing himself to the limit, fighting against the temptation to desert his workout and give in to failure.
“I’ve been extremely blessed,” Williams said. “I’m just trying to use the blessings that God gave me by trusting in my coaches and just working within a scheme and not doing too much. I just play my game.”
Faunteroy oversees Williams’ extra reps in defensive line drills before, during and after each practice and in the offseason. Williams works on different pass-rushing moves in front of Faunteroy, including:
– Rips, where the rusher explodes off the edge and swings an arm in an upward motion to disengage with a blocker
– Chops, where the rusher attacks the blocker by chopping his hand toward the ground
– Bull rushes, where the rusher challenges the blocker head-up to knock him off-balance
– The push-pull swim move, which begins as a bull rush and ends with the rusher pulling the jersey and swimming over the staggered blocker
– Spinning and fake spinning
– The stab, where the rusher uses his leverage to separate himself from the blocker with one hand and releases to the quarterback
Faunteroy coached his fair share of successful defensive ends in the past at Division II Shepherd University from 2009-2015. Shaneil Jenkins was a 2015 Division II All-American, Mountain East Conference Defensive Player of the Year and a Cliff Harris Award finalist (the Heisman Trophy of Division II football) under the tutelage of Faunteroy. Howard Jones set the school record for career sacks (35) with Faunteroy as his position coach.
Faunteroy believes Williams has a similar work ethic as Jones and that he too could one day play in the NFL. Jones played in 20 games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2015-2016 and four for the Chicago Bears in 2017.
“I would say that Howard Jones was a little bit lighter than Elijah, but they are explosive, both instinctive and athletic,” Faunteroy said. “Jones, his senior year, was about 230 pounds and I had a chance to coach him for five years, including a redshirt year, but he struggled to gain weight and keep it on. Elijah is a guy that can carry 270-275 easily. The biggest similarity is that they both want to be great. They both want to be on the field with their team, they want to lead, but they both aren’t talkers. They opt for action over words.”
Photo Credit: Chris Thompkins
Issue 283: October/November 2023
Originally published Oct. 18, 2023