FEDERAL WAY — K.W. Williams doesn't like to take credit.

Jefferson High School's senior quarterback, defensive back and punter didn't take credit for leading the Raiders to their first football state-playoff appearance last fall.

"I can't take all the credit, because everything I've learned is either from my coaches or my teammates," Williams said. "I want to give them the credit."

He didn't take credit for winning the Class 4A state wrestling title at 195 pounds.

"I owe my success to him (coach Jess Workman)," Williams said.

He didn't take credit for being a talented three-sport athlete — he also played baseball — who found success in each sport.

But, while praising everyone from Jefferson football coach Dean Peck to his father, Joe, The Seattle Times' Boys Athlete of the Year admitted the memories from his senior year are something he will always remember.

"I think it's awesome," Williams said. "You can't really put words into it until it happens and then, when it happens, your whole vocabulary, it comes. I'm truly blessed."

Asked about his senior success, Williams talked about hard work and focus. During football season, he put everything he could into building the Raiders into a playoff team. Along the way, he earned a scholarship offer from Idaho State and will play safety for the Bengals next season.

"Football is what I wanted to do in college," said Williams, who had more than 3,000 yards of total offense as a senior. "It was my last chance to get on the scene. I made that my goal."

When wrestling season started, he shifted all his attention to winning the state title that eluded him as a junior.

"My junior year, I took second at state," he said. "That kind of left a bad taste in my mouth coming into my senior year."

In the state-championship match, he met Kadyn Del Toro of Curtis, the only wrestler to beat him this season. Williams won, 7-5.

"I didn't want to lose again," Williams said. "I didn't want to go out two years in a row being the runner-up."

In the spring, he put all his attention into baseball.

"I think that (focus) got me through, because hard work is one thing, but if you're not focused on a goal, then your hard work can deviate and go somewhere else," he said.

In a few months, he'll begin his college career in Pocatello, Idaho. He is ready for a new challenge.

The Idaho State coaching staff "just seem like really good people," he said. "They're going to make me more of a man than I already am right now. They're going to make me a college graduate. They expect nothing but the best from me. They're expecting a lot, but I know I can do it."

Mason Kelley: 206-464-8277 or seattletimes.com">mkelley@seattletimes.com