Versatile Rayce Heitman leads Williamsburg into Friday’s Class 3A football championship game

WILLIAMSBURG — Versatility is a great thing on the football field. But in the world of recruiting, it can cause issues.

Consider the dilemma of Rayce Heitman. Where does he fit on the field?

“That’s part of the problem,” Williamsburg Coach Curt Ritchie said Tuesday. “Colleges ask, and I don’t know if any of us can project, what position he is.”

Receiver? Cornerback? Special-team whiz?

How about this:

Athlete. Playmaker.

Or this:

“He’s just an amazing football player,” teammate Derek Weisskopf said.

Heitman, Weisskopf and the third-ranked Raiders (11-1) meet No. 8 Sioux City Heelan (11-1) for the Class 3A football championship Friday.

Kickoff is 1 p.m. at the UNI-Dome.

“(Heelan is) a really good running team. They have a lot of playmakers. We have to go out and stop them,” Heitman said.

Williamsburg has playmakers, too. And Heitman absolutely is one of the best.

The receiver/linebacker has scored 18 touchdowns this season, in a variety of ways:

* Ten of them have come as a receiver (he has 30 catches for 495 yards).

* Three have come, recently, as a running-back option.

* He has returned two interceptions for touchdowns, two punts for touchdowns, one kickoff return for a touchdown.

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In Williamsburg’s win over South Tama on Sept. 22, Heitman scored four TDs — punt returns of 52 and 44 yards, interceptions of 20 and 25 yards — and the Raiders had a 27-0 lead, seven minutes in, and hadn’t taken an offensive snap.

Perhaps the most impactful play of the season came in the Raiders’ 38-35 quarterfinal win over No. 4 Mount Vernon.

The Mustangs led 21-17 late in the first half, and had the ball at the Williamsburg 5.

Heitman made a break on quarterback Joey Rhomberg’s pass to the right flat and returned it to the Williamsburg 14.

“I followed (Rhomberg’s) eyes. He threw my direction, and I went and made a play,” he said.

The Raiders drove the field and scored before halftime. Instead of trailing 28-17, they led 24-21.

“A 14-point swing,” Ritchie said. “He made a big play. It was huge.”

The Raiders carried that momentum to the semifinals, where they avenged a regular-season loss to No. 2 Solon, collecting eight takeaways in a 45-14 romp.

Heitman caught six passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for a TD. He collected 15 tackles and intercepted a pass.

He dominated. And so did the Raiders.

“(Heitman) went crazy. We were able to get the ball in his hands a little more,” Ritchie said. “The first time against Solon, he only had one touch.”

“We were all swarming the ball, trying to get it away,” Weisskopf said.

Of all of his roles, Heitman enjoys wide receiver the most.

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“It’s fun running routes and catching the ball,” he said. “It’s fun having (Weisskopf) at quarterback. He trusts me to go get the ball.”

Weisskopf called Heitman “an athlete you don’t see often. He can run and jump ... he can do it all. He’s faster than me.”

Heitman has visited Iowa State and South Dakota State, and “liked them both.” He’ll visit Iowa on Saturday when the Hawkeyes host Illinois.

But first comes Friday.

“We want to do what we always do,” Heitman said. “We want to set the tone, do what we do and go out and play.”

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com