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Williams, Overstreet Stress Teamwork

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By KATHERINE SMITH

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 4, 2008

TAMPA - Quentin Williams is quite aware of the numbers Jefferson High quarterbacks have put up in the past.

Most recently, Stephen Garcia set Hillsborough County records by completing 506 of 821 passes for 8,081 yards and 83 touchdowns as a Dragon. Before him, Andre Caldwell passed and rushed for more than 2,200 combined yards and scored 38 touchdowns in his senior season with Jefferson.

Williams isn't approaching this season, his first as the Dragons starting quarterback, with those numbers in mind. Instead, he'd like something else Garcia and Caldwell had - state championship game experience.

"I'm not worried about Garcia or Caldwell," Williams said. "We want to go to state before we graduate. I don't feel any pressure from the previous quarterbacks.

"I just have to do my thing and just get the job done."

Williams, a sophomore who is drawing comparisons to Garcia, would like to lead Jefferson back to the state championship game, a spot the Dragons have reached twice this decade. One of his main targets, junior tight end-fullback-linebacker Fredrick Overstreet, wants to join him.

"If we want to get back to the playoffs, we've got to work together as a team," Overstreet said. "We've got to work hard as a team and believe in each other."

The duo are leading a youth movement at Jefferson, with a goal of recapturing the district title Plant has won three consecutive years.

"It's our time to pick it up," Williams said. "It's our time to win the district this year.

"We've got to believe and everybody's just got to pick it up for us to achieve our goal."

In hopes of reaching that goal, Jefferson put in a lot of work this summer. Workouts began at 7 a.m. and sometimes lasted several hours.

"The offseason workouts were pretty difficult," Williams said. "It got us in shape to perform on Friday night, how we want to perform."

The offseason program also included some 7-on-7 work. In July, the Dragons finished tied for third in the annual USF Sling & Shoot tournament, an event they won the previous year.

"That tournament helped us see where we were and what we needed to improve on," Overstreet said.

The Dragons want to improve on last year's 5-7 season, which ended with a second-round loss in the playoffs. History has shown there is potential for big numbers from the offense.

But right now, that's not the main concern.

"The most important thing is for the team to succeed," Williams said. "I don't care if I throw five interceptions and no touchdowns, as long as we win the game. That's what I'm worried about. I'm not worried about shattering records.

"I'm worried about my team. I just want to help get the team to where we want to be."

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