Sophomore wide receiver Ryan Williams, who led Saraland to the Class 6A state football title, has been named Gatorade’s Alabama Player of the Year.

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Alabama commit caught 88 passes for 1,641 yards and 24 touchdowns during Saraland’s 14-1 season. Williams also rushed 57 times for 700 yards and 15 TDs, threw a touchdown pass and scored on a pair of punt returns for a total of 42 TDs.

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He scored 4 first-half TDs in Saraland’s state title win over Mountain Brook and was named the game’s MVP. He is a first-team All-State selection and a finalist for the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 6A Back of the Year Award.

“Ryan is the reason Saraland is as good as they are,” St. Paul’s coach Ham Barnett said in a Gatorade press release. “He is explosive with the ball in his hands. He makes the team better with or without the ball in his hands because, as a coach, you attempt to stop their best player.”

Williams is now a finalist for Gatorade’s national player of the year award, which will be announced later this month. The Gatorade award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field.

Williams joins recent Gatorade Alabama Football Players of the Year Earl Woods (2021-22, Hueytown High School), Conner Harrell (2020-21, Thompson High School), Kristian Story (2019-20, Lanett High School) and Bo Nix (2018- 19, Pinson Valley High School). He is the first Saraland player to win the award.

Williams already has been named the AL.com Coastal Alabama Player of the Year. He joins Mountain Brook running back Cole Gamble and last year’s Gatorade winner, Woods, as finalists for Back of the Year. The winner – as well as the ASWA’s Mr. Football – will be announced Thursday in Montgomery.

This post will be updated