University of Florida commit Justin Williams steals the spotlight for the Buchholz football team, and deservedly so.

Last year, as a junior, he finished second in the voting for the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 6A Player of the Year after rushing for 1,023 yards and 16 TDs and catching 85 passes for 1,473 yards and 13 touchdowns.

But the X factor on the team in 2025 might just be senior wide receiver Keil McGriff (5’10, 170), whose family tree includes former Gators Travis (dad) and Lee (grandfather).

“It’s a pretty surreal feeling,” Keil McGriff said of his final prep season. “It’s a lot of different angles of it. You know, there’s the last time playing with my dad coaching. There’s the last time playing with guys I’ve been playing with since the seventh grade, last high school experience. It’s a lot of stuff that’s surreal.”

McGriff played quarterback for Newberry High School as a freshman and a sophomore, but after transferring to Buchholz for his junior season, he switched to wide receiver.

One of his best games of the season was in the Class 6A state semifinals against Osceola (Kissimmee), a 41-35 loss at home, when he had a team-best 14 catches for 162 yards.

He finished third on the team for the season with 44 catches for 737 yards and six touchdowns for the state semifinalist Bobcats.

“There was one point last season where we were 3-3, I mean, we were .500,” he said. “That ain’t where you want to be. So, to be able to do what we did after that, going to the final four last year, it meant a little bit more. It was special.”

With offers from Delaware, Troy, Louisville, Georgia Southern, and Western Kentucky, among others, he’s in line to follow in his family’s footsteps.

Travis McGriff, who is Buchholz’s offensive coordinator, is 14th all-time on the Gators’ receiving list with 2,057 yards, while Lee is 25th with 1,551 yards.

“Travis McGriff has done a phenomenal job, did last year,” said Buchholz head coach Mark Whittemore. “We set passing records, overall offensive numbers, so couldn’t be more excited about his leadership. He’s steady, actually, a really, really good kind of quarterback whisperer. So I’m excited about what Travis brings to the table.”

Keil, who will play multiple receiving spots this fall for the Bobcats, could be in store for a big year.

“I’m all over (the field) for now,” he said. “In college, I’ll probably play slot. That’s what I’m getting recruited as, but right now it’s inside, outside, everything.”

Last year’s quarterback, Trace Johnson, transferred out of state, but rising sophomore Andrew Whittemore has shown plenty of promise.

“I mean, he’s a great kid,” Keil said. “We all really like him, me and Justin, we all get along. We’re building chemistry. He’s got all the talent in the world. He really does, super talented. Got all the arm ability you want, and he’s a smart kid, so he’ll learn it. He’s just got to learn it, the game experience. He’s got to have that.”

A sophomore starter under center is not new at Buchholz, including Johnson, who would have been a three-year starter for the Bobcats if he had not left for California.

“We’ve had at Buchholz, I’d say several, over eight times in our 50 years, we’ve had a sophomore starter,” Whittemore said. “So, we’ve got a long tradition of three-year starters here. Trace made a move out there to Cali, and so this kind of just fell into Andrew’s lap. I know that he’s excited about the opportunity, but we’ve got a great senior class that can buoy him. The load is going to be on our offensive line and the skill players.”

In addition to catching the ball, McGriff should make a big impact on special teams.

He has a chance to be a playmaker as a punt returner for the ‘Cats.

“It’s great to be able to do that because not a lot of guys want to punt return,” he said. “I mean, it’s kind of scary being the only guy back there, and you’ve got to look at the ball and everyone’s running at you. Not a lot of people like to do it, so to be able to do that, and I really do, I enjoy doing it. It’s great.”

The presence of Williams, whether in the backfield or at receiver, could help open things up for McGriff.

“He plays super hard,” Keil said of Williams. “He’s a competitive kid. He obviously is committed and has the offers, but it’s deeper than that. I mean, when you look to your left or you look to your right and you see a kid that you know is going to go hard, it means a lot. It’s someone that you can truly go to bat for and play hard for.”

McGriff said that even though the bar is raised even higher following a fourth straight state semifinal appearance, it has become the norm for the Bobcat football program.

“When it comes to expectations, it’s intense internal expectations, but when it comes to external expectations, and you know what people outside of our team expect of us, we really don’t pay attention to a lot of that,” Keil said. “We have a standard inside the team that we care about. I mean, we set the standard, and it is the standard. Yeah, final four. There’s been four in a row, and we’re really looking to go and seal the deal.”

It’s also one last time to play for his dad.

“It’s special,” Keil said. “And we try our best to separate it from, you know, this is Coach time, and then when you go home, it’s father/son. But I mean, we’ll go home and we’ll just keep talking about football. It’s great. He’s been a rock for me, and he’s taught me so much. It’s awesome having him around.”