Dynamic Duo

Ty and Tyjh Williams bring different personalities and skills to the Vermilion Catholic High School football team.
The twin brothers are two-thirds of a set of triplets, along with sister Tajjuana, a manager for the football team.
Tyjh describes himself as more serious but also considers himself to be funnier.
“We definitely don’t have the same personality,” he said. “I’d say I’m serious. I can be funny. I can joke around, too. But I can be serious when it comes to that time.
When pressed to say which one is funnier, he deferred — sort of.
“You’ve just got to ask somebody else,” Tyjh said. “Everybody knows I’m funnier than him.”
Ty, on the other hand, said he’s not really a serious type of person.
“I can be serious, but I’d just rather not most of the time,” he said.
Sister Tajjuana is very smart, they added.
One thing both are serious about is the Eagles’ prospects this year. Tyjh is a running back who expects to play some cornerback this fall, while Ty is a safety and plays some running back and receiver.
“We’ve been playing on the same teams all our lives,” Ty said. “It’s like another teammate I’m closer to than the rest of them.”
The brothers’ personalities shine through in different ways. Tyjh shows a great deal of determination in his play.
“Always keep going,” he said of his style of play. “Keep running the ball, not giving up, until the game is over, from the first down until the last play of the game.”
“(Tyjh) likes to tote the rock a little bit,” said VC offensive line coach Brodie Savoie. “He’s got great balance, real good top-end speed. He has some wheels on him, but he has excellent moves too. He rolls off of tackles well.”
Ty, on the other hand, is confident in the Eagles’ chances to be successful again this year. VC had a stifling defense in 2022, but Ty thinks this year’s team could be as good or better.
“Absolutely,” he said of preferring to be on the defensive side of the ball, adding he enjoys lining up against his brother in practice. “I lock him up all the time. I’ve got clips.”
“Ty’s got an excellent nose for the ball when it’s in the air,” Savoie said. “He has good hips.
Each is confident in his abilities and plays the game their way.
“He plays the way he plays, and I play the way I play,” Tyjh said. “It’s not going to change.”
The two do motivate each other, he said.
“Any way we can, by him getting tackles or me scoring,” he said. “Any way.”
“I guess you could call it a little bit more competition,” Ty said. “Showing our teammates who are better at what.”
The two hope to see the Eagles match or surpass last year’s run to the Division IV select school finals.
“Last season was a good experience in my first year here,” Tyjh said.
“I don’t think I could ask for more,” Ty said. “I know we lost, but it was a good experience.”
The two want to take that experience and make it better this year.
“You know, you really can’t make it farther (than we did last year), but we really expect to make it to state again, and this time we just want to win state,” Ty said. “We could be just a little more physical, do our thing in the weight room, the same thing on the field.”
Though both prefer which side of the ball they like to play, they know neither side o the ball is more important than the other.
“I feel like without defense, there is no offense, and without offense, there is no defense, so it kind of equals out,” Ty said.
“I kind of agree with him,” Tyjh said. “But I like offense a lot. I was never a defensive player.”
Savoie said the VC coaches wish the two could’ve joined the team before last year.
“I think the only downside with them is probably that we didn’t get them sooner,” Savoie said. “I wish we could’ve. But they’ve blossomed here. They became part of the team almost immediately.
“As far as us coaches go and teachers, they’re very polite young men, and that’s the important thing to us. We can only do so much, and mom and dad are doing a great job. It shows. They’re great kids. I hope they can get to the next level.”
The two were just learning everything on the fly last year, he said, which is hard. When Tyjh started picking things up, he had some excellent highlights when he touched the ball, Savoie said.
“I think he’s going to help us tremendously,” the coach said. “If we can move him around and get him in good spots, just give him a little skinny gap, he can do some special things on the second and third level.
“As far as Ty, he can be a real lynchpin on that defense. He might be able to put things together in the secondary. He’s very athletic, and he’s got that top-end speed just like his brother. I think he’s going to be a presence.”
Savoie said Neither is a loud leader, but they lead by example.
“They go in the weight room and show you,” he said. “They go out on the field, and they show you. They practice hard, and they work out hard. They play hard.”
Savoie added that if they keep their grades up and keep their good attitudes up, the two have a real shot at playing college football, whether together or separately.