Hall of Fame
Royton Williams came to Benedict College on a track scholarship, and later became a standout on the football field after joining the team as a walkon. After initially seeing action only on kickoff and punt return teams, he eventually became the starting quarterback for the Tigers during the 1998 season, only the team's third year after Benedict had revived the program in 1995.
In his first game as a starter, he rushed for 45 yards, rushed for one touchdown and threw for another to lead the Tigers to a 30-27 win over Morris Brown. He followed that performance by leading the Tigers to a 26-13 victory over Lane by rushing for 83 yards and passing for a touchdown.
Benedict then took on eighth-ranked Fort Valley State team. In his third start, he rushed for 185 yards and threw for another touchdown as the Tigers narrowly fell in their upset bid, losing 38-37 when Fort Valley State scored the winning points in the final 29 seconds.
In the final game of the season, he led the Tigers on a winning scoring drive with a minute and a half left in the game. He engineered an 84-yard drive, culminating with a four-yard scoring toss to Bernard Keitt to tie the game with seven seconds left. Kevin Harris kicked the extra point to give Benedict the 34-33 victory.
Royton led the Tigers in rushing during his freshman season in 1998 with 530 yards and two touchdowns and completed 20 passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns for 853 yards of total offense.
