How Millbrook HS football standout is taking ‘shutdown safety’ to another level

Cairo Williams strides across Millbrook High’s practice field with eye-catching height, length and quickness. First impressions quickly size him up as a wide receiver.

But Williams, the Wildcats’ 6-foot-2, 180-pound junior safety, disagrees. And don’t try to change his mind.

“No sir, I’m a safety,” he said emphatically, shaking his head prior to Millbrook’s Monday practice.

“The main reason I play football is I like to be aggressive. As a receiver — besides blocking — you can’t be as aggressive as you want to be. Football helps me cope with life and to get my aggression out on the field.”

Although Williams isn’t shy about playing physically, don’t assume he’s single-minded.

“Cairo is a playmaker,” Millbrook coach Laymarr Marshall said. “He’s a rangy safety playing the pass, and he loves to get down in the box and mix it up with the running game.”

Williams is too young to know this, but he would have loved cheering for the late Muhammad Ali and echoing the heavyweight boxing world champion’s iconic quote:

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”

Building toward a playoff run

With the N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs dwindling down to the final weeks, Williams and his teammates are still chasing their goals to add an 8A East Region title and state championship to their Cap 8A Conference crown.

Millbrook (12-0), the No. 2 seed in the East, faces No. 1 seed Wilmington Hoggard (12-0) in the region final at 7 p.m. Friday on the Vikings’ field.

Millbrook-Hoggard is a post-season rematch of a year ago, when they met in the third round of the 4A division, the former format for the large-school division. Hoggard beat the Wildcats, 28-21, before losing the next week in the regional semis to Cardinal Gibbons, 38-0.

As for 2025, comparing scores of common opponents isn’t foolproof, but it’s worth noting both avenged 2024 losses to Rolesville, last year’s 4A state runner-up.

Millbrook beat Rolesville 28-7 in the fifth week of the regular season in conference play. Defeating the Rams validated the Wildcats could make a 2025 playoff run. Rolesville had beaten Millbrook the previous three seasons by one-sided scores.

Hoggard defeated Rolesville, 40-14, last week in the third round. The decisive victory validated the Vikings’ No. 1 seed.

Williams says he and his junior classmates have been optimistic about making a playoff run in their careers since the day their talented class arrived on campus. Williams was one of the freshmen who flashed potential on the 2023 JV team. He was named MVP with nine interceptions.

His freshman year also included taking some varsity snaps, helping him to later emerge as a sophomore who earned all-conference honors.

“At one of my first practices my freshman year, our offensive line coach, coach (Hunter) Jenks, told me I would be playing varsity, and I would be a Big Ten safety. I guess he said that because of my size and the Big Ten would be a good fit for me. I like that. I watch a lot of Big Ten football.”

Recruiting buzz

Williams’ performances in 2025 have jumped his college scouting evaluations ahead of recruiting website profile postings. ESPN has yet to rank him, while On3.com and 247Sports.com rate him as a 3-star prospect.

On3.com still only lists Williams with only six offers, although his list is growing. The three listed from Power 4 conference schools are the ACC’s Louisville and SMU, and the Big Ten’s Michigan State. The three from Group of 5 teams are the American’s Charlotte, the Sun Belt’s Coastal Carolina and Conference USA’s Liberty.

But his offer list has recently added the Big Ten’s Wisconsin, the American’s East Carolina, and the Sun Belt’s Troy. In addition, three ACC schools — Duke, Florida State and Virginia Tech — have stepped up recent contacts while weighing extending an offer.

Another reason not to stereotype Williams as one dimensional is the time he devotes to addressing pass defense. Millbrook defensive coordinator Marcus Gladden says Williams is a quick learner absorbing techniques and footwork.

“It’s all about transferring,” Gladden said. “We give him the information, and he translates it to the field.”

As any high school coach can tell you, that’s not as easy as it might sound to teach and soon see results.

“I think it comes naturally to me from playing basketball,” Williams said. “When they teach me specific techniques, I can translate from basketball footwork.”

In Millbrook’s third-round 27-10 victory last week over No. 3 seed Durham Jordan (11-1), the Falcons ran plays away from Williams, but he nevertheless recorded two turnovers -- an interception and a fumble recovery.

Shutdown defense

Williams provides Millbrook’s defense a third level of projected college talent along with two 4-star junior prospects in front of him, defensive end Rashad Streets and middle linebacker Quinton Cypher. The Wildcats have recorded five shutouts and allow only 5.4 points a game.

Williams and Cypher are second-year varsity starters who’ve been teammates dating to their West Millbrook Middle School days. Other junior starters from West Millbrook are quarterback Bryson Gray, tight end Hayes Brawner, lineman Andrew Jaynes, lineman Jayce Nazario and kicker Ethan Lubericki. Williams says the competitiveness among them in their middle school days extended beyond the football team to gym class.

“Whatever sports we were playing, they were Game 7,” Williams said. “We were going back and forth. Nobody was joking around. Guys would get a bruised eye or something. A lot of times they (the gym teachers) told us to chill out. Or that we couldn’t play anymore.

“I think that’s part of the reason we’re 12-0 this year. Everybody is competitive and everybody believes in each other.”

8A state final notes

The East Region winner meets the West Region champion for the 8A state title in two weeks at North Carolina’s Kenan Stadium. The West final matches its top two seeds, No. 1 Cornelius Hough (12-0) and No. 2 West Charlotte (10-2).

With fewer teams in the 8A division of the reformatted playoffs, there is a one-week break before the 8A final is played on December 11 or December 12. The date and time will be announced after the regionals.

The other divisions are playing regional semifinal games this week and regional finals next week.