The Sunday film sessions with his dad proved to be tougher for Carlos Williams than his actual games with the Vicksburg Gators.

Evidently it paid off, because for the second straight year, Williams is the Vicksburg Post’s Defensive Player of the Year. Williams, a 6-foot, 250-pound linebacker, who was classified as a senior in 2008, had some other hardware from the Gators’ 9-3 season.

“All-Region, Best Defensive Player in the Region and (Class 4A) All-State,” said his coach, Alonzo Stevens. “Carlos comes from a family of great athletes, not only from his dad, but his mom and his uncles as well. He certainly represents the family well.”

Williams said he was glad to put together another strong season.

“It was a great year and a good overall experience for me. I think I did what I expected to do,’ said Williams, who finished the season with 140 tackles, two sacks, one fumble recovery and one interception. He also blocked four kicks on special teams and scored three touchdowns as a short-yardage back on offense.

“Delmon (Robinson) told me I’d probably repeat if I would keep working hard,” Williams said.

Carlos’ dad, Leroy, did his part, Williams says.

“My dad was playing right along with me. He was a big factor. Every Sunday, we’d break down film together. He tell me all the things I did wrong.

“Like why am I doing this? Why did I miss that tackle? But thing that would make him mad the most, was seeing me run my mouth,” Williams said, with a laugh.

One game in particular, created a long gripe session.

“Pearl,” Williams answered about the Gators’ 41-13 loss at home.

It was the only game during the season, the Gators did not play with maximum effort.

“That was a tough breakdown. We got beat. We made sure we didn’t have another one like that,” he said.

The Gators didn’t. They reeled off six straight wins, including a 30-21 win in the first round of the 4A playoffs over Pontotoc.

The run ended on a muddy bog in New Hope, where the Gators lost, 13-7 in a second-round, Class 4A playoff game.

Williams said a lot of his success came about with the help of his teammates.

“The guys on the D-line, really made me this year. (Anthony) Addison, (Emmanuel) Lofton and (William) Henderson were able to turn a lot of the stuff inside and that’s where I made the tackles,” Williams said.

Henderson, who had 10 sacks, along with Lofton and Addison were named to the All-County defense.

Williams’ can definitely play at the collegiate level but his future may have to be put on hold.

“I’m going to fall under the 19/9 rule. I’ve always played in the class above since I was little, but I can’t play next year because I’ll be 19. My birthday was one week before the cutoff,” he said.

So as for the future, Williams will focus on an immediate goal:  repeating as the Class 4A champ in the shot put.

“I won the shot gold last year in 4A and I want to repeat. After that, I’ll weigh my options.”

Some of the options include sitting out a year of football and concentrating on school work. That’s the avenue the 2005 Defensive Player of the year in Chico Hunter travelled. Hunter eventually signed and is now a starting safety at Southern Miss.

Williams could also opt for prep school. The advantage there is he could play while using the year to catch up.

“Right now, I’m just weighing my options.”

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com