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Episcopal hosts 7 on 7 tournament in honor of alum Jimmy Williams
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Baton Rouge - Friday, 10 high school 7 on 7 teams showed up to Episcopal High School for the second annual Jimmy Williams Memorial Classic.
Williams is a former player and coach for the Knights as well as a college and professional football player.
He passed away from cancer on July 7, 2022.
Since then, loved ones created this 7 on 7 tournament to showcase the talent in South Louisiana because Williams believed that the best athletes reside in the bayou state.
His wife, Chandra Williams says that Jimmy had a passion for coaching young athletes after his playing days were over. She says that he treated every kid he coached like his own.
The Episcopal Knights are also honoring Williams through their program. Head coach Travis Bourgeois will award one senior on the football team with the number eight jersey, the same number Williams wore during his time at Episcopal.
"When you retire a jersey, people kind of forget about it, so we want that number to represent Jimmy. You know for his legacy to go on year in and year out. I want a well rounded person that represents Episcopal on and off the field, but also just a high character guy that kids will look up to as a freshman and hopefully one day want to be that number eight" Bourgeois said.
The 2025 senior class was the last class Williams coached before his passing, so his family has a close relationship with the athletes on the team.
"Because Jimmy was sick, I spent a lot of time here with him, so I got to know a lot of the kids, and because Ace (Williams' son) was in school, they were big brothers to him. I know a lot of the kids. This senior class is super special to me, and we plan to be here to be apart of some of their celebratory moments as a part of their senior season," Chandra Williams said.
Jimmy has touched the lives of many kids during his time playing and coaching, but the one that looked up to him the most was his 11-year-old son, Ace.
"He taught me everything about the game. How to be every position, a quarterback, a DB, tight end, linebacker, lineman. Everything just to help me be better than he was," Ace Williams said.
The second annual Jimmy Williams Memorial Classic gave a financial award to the team who won, and this year the Scotlandville Hornets won the championship with a game sealing interception.
Both Episcopal and Williams' loved ones hope to grow the event bigger each year with more teams.
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