From winning Section VI championships in football, basketball and lacrosse together at Silver Creek High School, the two have gone to compete with and against each other at the professional level in both the National Lacrosse League and Major League Lacrosse.

Once again they both will be competing in the big game. However, this time they’ll be opponents in the NLL’s championship series for a shot at the Champions Cup.

“I always talk to Frank,” stated Williams. “I played every sport with him from football to basketball to lacrosse. Him transferring to Silver Creek kept us close together.”

Williams, who set the high school goal-scoring record during his days as a Black Knight — is a forward for the Colorado Mammoth from the Western Conference and Brown will be a defender for the Eastern Conference champion Buffalo Bandits.

Pictured is Zed Williams, left, and Frank Brown when the duo played against each other in a Major League Lacrosse game in 2018. Photo courtesy of Frank Brown

It’s hard to envision one high school athlete making it to the professional level, but in this case it’s two of them and now it’s at the highest level the game can be played at. While they have played together for the Georgia Swarm in the NLL and previously against each other in the MLL, this will be with a championship is on the line.

“I never envisioned this,” Williams said about playing against Brown in a championship game. “I always stay in the moment and it just kind of happened.”

While Colorado is the away team tonight for Game 1 in Buffalo, it will be a home game for both Williams and Brown. Both men should expect to see fans from their hometowns of Irving and Salamanca as well as friends from Silver Creek High School.

“I am excited my kids get to come,” Williams said. “Family and friends from school will be there. It’s not often that they get to come to games and I’m really excited about that.”

Williams’ family was able to see his first game this season in Georgia where the Mammoth picked up a 16-11 victory in which Williams scored two goals and had an assist.

Silver Creek alum Zed Williams soars through the air for a goal in the Western Conference semifinals. Photo courtesy of the Colorado Mammoth

“They went to my first game in Georgia,” stated Williams. “My daughter is at the age where she knows what’s going on and can enjoy it.”

When Williams’ family last saw him he was still playing at a level of lacrosse players can only dream about as he rattled off 20 goals and 25 assists in 16 regular-season games for a point-per-game total of 2.8. But on the Mammoth’s playoff run he has reached another level, scoring at a 4.0 points-per-game pace with eight goals and eight assists in four games, including a five-goal and one-assist performance in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

“Especially being my first full year in Colorado, it takes time to build relationships,” Williams said about his season getting better as the year progressed. “Once we built that, they’re your brothers now. No matter what happens, who scores, we all want the same outcome and have the same goal.”

For the Mammoth, everything is coming together at the right time in the playoffs, the 3-seed in the Western Conference first dispatched 2-seed Calgary Roughnecks 16-12, defeating the San Diego Seals 14-12 in Game 1 and winning the pivotal Game 3 15-13. In the championship series, the Mammoth will have the top three goal scorers with Eli McLaughlin at 17, Connor Robinson at 12 and Williams is tied with Buffalo’s Josh Byrne with eight goals.

In the finals, the Buffalo defense will have its hands full with the red-hot trio of McLaughlin-Robinson-Williams. Brown will be a part of the defensive core with Justin Martin, Steve Priolo, Matt Spanger and Ethan O’Connor, who helped the Bandits, which gave up just 185 goals and lost four games, to the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Buffalo’s offense is led by former NLL MVP Dhane Smith who has 22 points in the playoffs after a massive 135-point regular season and Byrne has 23 points in the postseason to go along with his 99 points from the regular season.

Frank Brown will help the Bandits seek their first Champions Cup since 2008. Photo courtesy of Frank Brown

With both teams playing their best lacrosse right now, it’s likely going to be an exciting championship series.

“The emotions are same for me,” Williams said about going into the finals. “I always get that adrenaline going, but I won’t need any caffeine for this one.”

While Williams has won a championship in field lacrosse for the Whipsnakes in the Premier Lacrosse League and Brown won a championship with the Boston Cannons in Major League Lacrosse, this will be their first opportunity to win it all in indoor lacrosse. One of the lifelong friends will have to be the loser, but one thing for certain is that Silver Creek High School will have a winner.

Tonight’s game will start at 7:30 and air on ESPN plus in the United States and TSN in Canada. Next week Game 2 will be in Colorado at 9 p.m. and, if necessary, the series will shift back to Buffalo on June 18 for Game 3.