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newlenoxpatriot.com sports<br />
the new lenox patriot | March 21, 2019 | 43<br />
Going Places<br />
St. Ambrose’s education, football the right fit for Knights scatback<br />
Sean Hastings<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
Conner McWilliams’<br />
versatility on the football<br />
field helped him earn a spot<br />
on St. Ambrose’s football<br />
team next season.<br />
McWilliams was utilized<br />
at running back and wide<br />
receiver for Lincoln-Way<br />
Central and succeeded at<br />
both spots.<br />
He rushed for 395 yards,<br />
on 69 touches, averaging<br />
5.7 yards per carry and<br />
scored 5 touchdowns.<br />
McWilliams was the second-highest<br />
rusher for the<br />
Knights in 2018.<br />
He hauled in 41 receptions<br />
and led the team with<br />
513 yards and 2 touchdowns.<br />
“He was a playmaker,”<br />
Knights coach Jeremy<br />
Cordell said. “Whether he<br />
ran the ball or we split him<br />
out and threw him the ball,<br />
he was just a dynamic player<br />
for us.”<br />
And playing both positions<br />
at a high level is what<br />
helped catch the eye of St.<br />
Ambrose.<br />
McWilliams does not<br />
want to be just a one-position<br />
player, he said. He<br />
wants to be able to help in<br />
anyway he can, just like he<br />
did at Central.<br />
“I want to be very versatile<br />
when I get there,”<br />
he said. “Whether it be on<br />
the scout team or the first<br />
team, I want to be the guy<br />
that just makes an impact<br />
somewhere.”<br />
When McWilliams visited<br />
St. Ambrose he said he<br />
liked the “homey” feel that<br />
the school and the town of<br />
Davenport, Iowa offered.<br />
St. Ambrose’s enrollment<br />
is just more than 2,000 students.<br />
Cordell told McWilliams<br />
during the recruiting process,<br />
that he just like any<br />
recruit , he needs to fall in<br />
love with the school first<br />
and not the football program.<br />
“I like that it’s a smaller<br />
school, because everyone<br />
gets to know everyone,”<br />
McWilliams said. “You’re<br />
going to be running into the<br />
same people a lot, you’re<br />
going to have connections,<br />
you’re going to be friends<br />
with a lot of people.”<br />
The average class size is<br />
20 students, which in some<br />
cases is smaller than the<br />
average class at Central.<br />
Education played a big role<br />
in his chose to attend St.<br />
Ambrose.<br />
Football-wise, the<br />
choice to be a Fighting Bee<br />
also fell right into his values.<br />
His favorite part of playing<br />
football at Central was<br />
the culture that was built in<br />
the program. It gave him<br />
something to look forward<br />
to everyday after school<br />
and even throughout the<br />
summer, when temperatures<br />
reached the mid 90s,<br />
he always wanted to be<br />
there.<br />
St. Ambrose is similar.<br />
“It’s not basically seniors<br />
start and then everyone will<br />
get their shot,” he said. “It’s<br />
whoever works the hardest,<br />
it’s whoever shows the<br />
coaches they belong in the<br />
program will be the ones<br />
who play on the field.”<br />
But with just anything<br />
else comes an adjustment.<br />
For McWilliams, it’s continuing<br />
to build his size.<br />
For a wide receiver and a<br />
running back, McWilliams<br />
is on the smaller end, but<br />
he makes up for his size in<br />
other ways.<br />
From his junior to senior<br />
season, he physically got<br />
bigger and plans to keep<br />
that trend going once he is<br />
at St. Ambrose, but it was<br />
his desire that made an<br />
impact at Central, Cordell<br />
said.<br />
“I saw him in Week 9<br />
against a good Thornton<br />
opponent and just go up<br />
and grab the ball between<br />
two guys that were five<br />
inches taller than him,”<br />
Cordell said. “He would<br />
run between the tackles for<br />
us and run really hard in a<br />
physical position and handled<br />
that very well.”<br />
McWilliams said “heart<br />
over height” is a big deal<br />
for him and was for his<br />
Central teammates, as well.<br />
McWilliams has set<br />
short-term and long-term<br />
goals for himself while St.<br />
Ambrose is just on the horizon<br />
for him.<br />
Short-term being, starting<br />
his education on a high<br />
note and being able to stand<br />
out as a freshman even if<br />
that does not mean starting.<br />
And by his junior and<br />
senior seasons, he wants to<br />
be a starter.<br />
And those goals resonate<br />
with what Cordell told him<br />
about falling in love with<br />
the school first.<br />
“If they felt comfortable<br />
about going to school there<br />
and being a student and an<br />
athlete second, you’re going<br />
to be in a good place<br />
to be around for the four<br />
years,” Cordell said. “I<br />
think the guys that get into<br />
trouble are the ones that go<br />
to a place just because they<br />
want to play football and<br />
don’t give the full picture<br />
a shot.”<br />
St. Ambrose opens<br />
its season on the road at<br />
Missouri Baptist University<br />
Sept. 7 in St. Louis.<br />
The home opener for the<br />
Fighting Bees and also<br />
the school’s Homecoming<br />
is Sept. 21 against Siena<br />
Heights University.<br />
Lincoln-Way Central senior running back Conner McWilliams signed on to play for St.<br />
Ambrose University next fall. 22nd Century Media File Photos<br />
Conner McWilliams scored seven total touchdowns (five running, two receiving) for<br />
the Knights in the 2018 season.
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