good times local news media events catalyst santa cruz california metro silicon valley news local events san jose weekly pajaronian watsonville local newspaper, news events pajaro valley california gilroy dispatch local news events garlic festival santa cruz media events local california weekly king city rustler newspaper media local events car sales buy new car media
56 F
Morgan Hill
English English Spanish Spanish
June 9, 2023

Live Oak’s Nathan Williams wins top award at Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Game

Like a blindside hit, Nathan Williams never saw it coming. 

The Live Oak High senior was overwhelmed with emotion when he learned that he would be awarded the Dwight Clark Beyond Extraordinary Award during halftime in the 47th annual Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game on Feb. 5 at Los Gatos High. 

Acorns coach Mike Gemo somehow managed to keep the news a secret all the way to its appointed time. 

“Coach Gemo didn’t even tell my mom until minutes before halftime,” said Williams, who had an exceptional 2021 senior season and was named the Blossom Valley League Mount Hamilton Division Most Valuable Player. “It was a complete surprise to me.”

The Charlie Wedemeyer Beyond Extraordinary Award is given to an “exceptional athlete with true humility and great God-given talents with courage, compassion and faith.” Williams played running back, linebacker and kicker for the South team that lost to the North team, 15-14. 

Prep football all star games are just as physical as regular-season contests, so Williams—who hadn’t played in nearly three months—admitted he was physically taxed during the game. 

“I started and kept going into the second quarter, but I was beat up and wasn’t quite used to playing because it had been a long time,” he said. “But I had so much fun. It was a great environment. There were big groups of people standing around the field, and the energy there made you want to jump around. It was insane.”

Williams played with Live Oak teammates Aaron Parra and Keelan Echauri, with Parra playing linebacker and Echauri cornerback. Williams was completely blind-sided by the news he would be the recipient of the Dwight Clark award during the halftime festivities.  

“I was just so grateful to be chosen for the award,” he said. “It’s a big part of the game and it meant a lot, especially for how hard I’ve worked. I was just super happy. I truly didn’t know how to react, and it was a great feeling.”

Williams had a nice conversation at halftime with Lucy Wedemeyer, the widow of the late Charlie Wedemeyer. 

“It was great. I got to thank her and tell her the award meant so much to me,” Williams said. “Of course, we started off talking about football, and she said she’s really looking forward to what I’m going to be doing in the future and what I can do on and off the field and how great of a man I can be in the future.”

Williams watched the Wedemeyer Game when he was a freshman and hoped to be a player in the game when he was senior. He made new friends at the event and got to suit up one last time as a high schooler with teammates Echauri and Parra. 

“It was a feeling of excitement and joy because we were playing our last game together,” Williams said. “To finish it out like that was great.”

Sports editor Emanuel Lee can be reached at [email protected] and (831) 886-0471, ext. 3958.

Emanuel Lee
Emanuel Lee is the sports editor of the Los Gatan, Gilroy Dispatch, Hollister Free Lance and Morgan Hill Times. An American High and University of Kentucky alumnus, he primarily covers high school athletics, Gavilan College, various youth sports in south Santa Clara/San Benito counties and pro sports on occasion. Two decades of journalism experience and recipient of several writing awards from the California News Publishers Association. With the Weeklys/NewSVMedia group since 2013. Emanuel has run eight marathons with a PR of 3:13.40 (7:24 mile pace), counts himself as a devoted follower of Jesus Christ and loves spending time with his wife and their two lovely daughters, Evangeline and Eliza. Coaches, athletic directors and parents are encouraged to report scores to [email protected].

Please leave a comment

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

SOCIAL MEDIA

7,063FansLike
1,250FollowersFollow
2,844FollowersFollow