Game Day Feature: Weather aside, MSU-N has been just like home

The Montana State University-Northern football team recruits far and wide to find players for its roster. Along with native Montanans, the Lights recruit players all the way from Georgia to the Pacific Northwest.

One of those players from out west is senior wide receiver Marvin Williams Jr. who came all the way from Puyallup, Washington to play for the Lights. While it took him a while to get acclimated to Havre, Williams has not regretted his decision to come to Havre one bit.

"I love this place. It's cold but I love it," Williams said. "It's given me the opportunity to do what I love so I'm thankful for that."

Williams was born and raised in Tacoma before moving to Puyallup. Tacoma is where he first began playing football at the age of eight and has not looked back since then. Despite the heavy rain, Williams was happy that Pierce County was where he got to grow up.

"Tacoma in general is just a really beautiful place," Williams said. "A lot of rain but it's nice to live in."

Williams eventually moved to Puyallup which is just south of Seattle. He attended Emerald Ridge High School before he accepted an offer to play for the Lights. Williams did not initially know much about the recruiting process out of high school and described it as a long process, but he knew MSU-N was the right place to play college football.

"I was thankful and lucky enough to get an offer from Northern," Williams said. "It seemed like the best fit for me so I had to take it."

It took him two years to get acclimated to Havre. One of the biggest things to adjust to was the weather. While Williams grew up with the rain in the Pacific Northwest, it did not prepare him for how cold north central Montana would be. Havre is also a much smaller town than Puyallup, but he did not mind it as the people here have made him feel welcome.

"The people are really nice in Havre," Williams said. "I love it here. It's just like home."

During his time in Havre, Williams' main focus has been on football. He has played for the Lights for the past five seasons and stuck with them through a ton of adversity. This past Saturday, the Lights defeated Eastern Oregon, 22-20, in quintuple overtime, for their first Frontier Conference win since Williams joined the program so it was a special day for him.

"I'm very relieved. Just knowing that our hard work and dedication finally paid off," Williams said.

As a wide receiver, Williams has to stay conditioned off the field in order to play the position. When he is on the field, he needs to make sure is in the right spot to succeed as well as remaining aggressive.

"(I'm just) trying to attack everything one play at a time. Just alignment, assignment, execution, just really trying to do your job to your fullest potential," Williams said about his approach to the game. "It might not look pretty all the time but that's just your goal."

Even when he is not on the field, Williams spends his free time watching more football. His favorite wide receiver to watch is Tyler Lockett of the Seattle Seahawks who Williams roots for as a Washington native. Other activities that he loves to do in his spare time include fishing and cooking.

With this being his senior season, Williams only has three more games left before he moves on from the program. While the Lights faced much adversity this fall, Williams is just happy he gets to play football one more time.

"I just enjoy every minute. I love playing with this group of guys that I'm with," Williams said. "Every day is a grind but each and every day, I've been trying to just enjoy every last minute that I have."

Along with football, Williams spent his time at MSU-N earning his bachelor's degree in integrated health sciences. After he completes his degree, he hopes to go into personal training or coaching. While he does not know whether he will stay in Havre, go back home to Washington or go somewhere else, he knows that his time playing and learning at MSU-N will help him wherever the road takes him next.

"I've learned a lot. I feel like I've grown a lot, not just in football but school's helped me grow a lot too," Williams said. "It's been really nice to go to Northern, get an education and play some college football."

Williams will play his final home game when he and the Lights host Montana Western at Tilleman Field this Saturday at 1 p.m.