2 days to WCU Football Kickoff - #2 Aaron Gethers & #2 Raphael Williams

Welcome to the eleventh annual Catamount Football "100 days to Football Kickoff Countdown".

During the countdown, we'll highlight the player whose number corresponds to that day in the countdown. To help pass those long summer days, and hopefully get the Catamount faithful more excited about the upcoming season, and knowledgeable of the team members, we'll continue the football countdown each day until kickoff Saturday.

Since the official 2021 Catamount Football Roster has not yet been published, we'll use the 2021 Catamount Football Preseason Roster for jersey numbers until the new roster is posted, at which point we'll switch to the official roster for the remainder of the countdown.

It's now 2 days until the kickoff of Catamount football on Saturday, September 4th, 2021, against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, in E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field, Cullowhee, NC.

From this point forward, most of the roster numbers have both an offensive and defensive player assigned to that number, today we will highlight both a cornerback and a wide receiver:

:

#2 Aaron Gethers

POSITION Cornerback
HEIGHT 5-10
WEIGHT 190
CLASS Redshirt Sophomore
HOMETOWN Blythewood, S.C.

COLLEGE  Boston College
HIGH SCHOOL Bishop McDevitt HS


2020-21 (Redshirt Sophomore): Played in all nine of the team’s seasonal game with eight starts in the defensive secondary … Finished the year with 24 tackles including 14 solo stops, recording tackles in every game … Posted five pass break-ups including a career-best three against VMI (March 6) … Made his WCU debut and first start at Liberty (Nov. 14) finishing with three tackles … Credited with a tackle and recorded his first career interception at Eastern Kentucky (Nov. 21), returning the pick 22 yards … Recorded a career-best four tackles three times including four stops at North Carolina (Dec. 5), four tackles at Furman (Feb. 20), and a career-best four solo stops against The Citadel (March 13) ... Named to the 2020-21 Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll.

Prior to Western Carolina: Originally signed and attended Boston College … Played in four games as a redshirt freshman recording one tackle for loss in 2019 … 

High School: Was listed as the No. 2 cornerback prospect in Pennsylvania by 247Sports and was rated as the No. 23 prospect in Pennsylvania and the No. 82 cornerback nationally according to 247Sports … Collected first-team all-conference honors as a junior after totaling 30 tackles and three interceptions … Was an All-Mid-Penn Conference selection according to the Harrisburg Patriot-News … As a senior, led Bishop McDevitt with five pass breakups and was second on the team in total tackles, helping guide the Crusaders to a 10-3 record and state quarterfinal appearance … Was listed as a three-star recruit by 247Sports.com and a two-star cornerback by Rivals.com … High school coach was Jeff Weachter.

Personal: Is the son of Ivory and Lynda Gethers.



#2 Raphael Williams

POSITION Wide Receiver
HEIGHT 5-10
WEIGHT 160
CLASS Redshirt Freshman
HOMETOWN Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

COLLEGE  Tusculum
HIGH SCHOOL Dillard HS


Prior to Western Carolina: Transferred to WCU in the summer of 2021 from Tusculum; 

Tusculum: Played in five games in the spring 2021 season, catching 13 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown … Averaged 38.8 receiving yards per game with a long reception of 51 yards 

High School: Was a First-Team All-Broward selection and a Second-Team All-State honoree … Considered one of the best route runners in South Florida … Selected to the Broward All-Star Team ... Named his high school’s team MVP ... 31 catches for 800 yards and 12 TD in his senior campaign ... Was an honors student ... High school coach was Eddie Frasier.

Personal: Full name is Raphael Williams, Jr. ... Nickname is "Poppi" ... Is the son of Rachel Sims and Raphael Williams Sr. … Has four siblings: Mikheal McCray, Radaijah McCray, Ryan Sims, Ry'Carri Dailey.