IRONTON, Ohio — The Ironton Fighting Tigers are making their third state championship appearance in five years. And this year- a girl on the field has helped them stay undefeated.
What You Need To Know
- Evan Williams played soccer growing up and decided to give kicking for the football a try this year
- Evan also plays multiple other sports, including basketball, where her dad is the head coach
- Her dad has also helped her on the field, coaching her through her new sport
- Evan says she’s excited to take on the big stage with the football team who has become family
Evan Williams is busy on the basketball court- with her dad, Jeremy, as the head coach. But Evan is a multi-sport athlete- four, to be exact.
Evan Williams at basketball practice with her dad, Jeremy, coaching (Spectrum News/Katie Kapusta)
“This is the only way I’d want it,” Evan said. “Sports is really the only stress reliever. I’m with my friends, no better people, and it’s what keeps me sane throughout the year.”
She added a new one this year- football. She was always a soccer player, but Ironton doesn’t have a girls’ soccer team, so when the opportunity presented itself to kick for the football team, she took it.
“Saw her kicking one day and her dad, who’s our girl’s basketball coach was like, ‘Yeah she’s interested in kicking next year,’ and came out here and watched her and was very impressed,” said Trevon Pendleton the head football coach for Ironton. “She stepped in there since day one. She’s fit right in with the guys and above all else, she’s a Fighting Tiger.”
Evan said there are two young kickers on the team, a freshman and sophomore.
“He knows I’ve been in high-pressure situations, I’m a senior, so he asked me to help and I did and the rest is history I guess,” she said.
Now, Evan has been an integral part of the team- all while balancing volleyball in the fall and now basketball. Her dad not only coaches her on the court, but also on the field.
Jeremy Williams, Evan’s dad, helps her practice kicking nearly every day around basketball practice (Spectrum News/Katie Kapusta)
“My dad, he’s like my kicking coach,” Evan said. “Anytime we have free time throughout the day, he’ll take me out there and I’ll kick so I don’t have to miss this practice.”
“We just go out and we kick, I talk to her,” Jeremy said. “I didn’t know a ton about kicking until the season started, but I’ve watched a ton of YouTube videos and tried to learn. I just watch her and whatever she needs really, I try to help her with and just encourage her and support her and be behind her, really.”
Evan has the chance to make history as one of just a handful of females that have played in an OHSAA football state championship.
“There’s no bigger stage than this one, it’s as big as it gets,” she said. “So I know no matter how it goes, my team will be there for me. So I hope I can just do my job and get the job done.”
But thanks to the support from her family and friends, Evan said she’s ready for the big game.
“Super proud, not just because of the football, but because of the person she is,” Jeremy said.
Evan says she’s ready for the big game and the pressure that comes with it (Spectrum News/Katie Kapusta)
But what comes next year after graduation for this star athlete?
“Right now, I’m thinking no sports, but that could change,” she said. “I’m not sure if I’m ready to say goodbye yet.”
