Catonsville’s Will Roberson named one of two Catonsville-Arbutus Times Male Athletes of the Year

Will Roberson made a lot of important plays as a defender for the Catonsville lacrosse team, but he and coach KR Schultz remembered one that stands out the most.

It came in a 7-6 victory over Marriotts Ridge on May 1.

“Against Marriotts Ridge in overtime, he had a caused turnover, like they were trying to clear and Will took the ball from the dude, picked up the ground ball and then assisted Eric Kaplan on the game-winner,” Schultz said. “That was one of our biggest assists of the entire year, if not the biggest assist. It was a clutch assist.”

“The Marriotts Ridge assist was absolutely one of my highlights,” Roberson said. “I won’t lie, I was tired, but there was a loose ball, so I just did what I do best and picked up the ball and started running down the field until I saw my teammate Eric Kaplan open, and I passed it to him and he scored and that was the game. That was amazing.”

It’s only one of the many clutch plays he made on the lacrosse and football fields, and though he didn’t see a lot of playing time on the basketball court, he was a valuable reserve.

The three-sport athlete joins senior Mason Ritter as Catonsville-Arbutus Times Male Athletes of the Year.

The game-winning play was one of six assists he had for the Comets and he also added a goal, but making defensive plays was his bread and butter.

“He led the team in ground balls with close to 60 on the year and he caused close to 40 turnovers,” Schultz said. ”He is a chaos causer on the team.”

In his first two years on varsity the Comets lost only once each season — in the state finals to Severna Park in 2021 and state semifinals in 2022.

This year, the Comets finished 10-5, winning a regional title and losing to Mt. Hebron in the state quarterfinals. They also lost to Hereford, 11-10, in the Baltimore County championship game.

“Will keeps getting better and better and better and he’s got the intangibles where he has got great length and he’s a super fast dude and he’s got a motor that goes for days and he’s a super smart player,” Schultz said. “He’s been excellent for us. For him, it’s like the ground ball stuff is just excellent and the on-ball defense, too. We let him carry and he’s really intelligent about when is a good time to shoot and when is a good time to pass it off.”

Roberson has enjoyed playing defense since he started playing lacrosse.

“I kind of thought I was a defender really early on. I wasn’t excited about scoring goals, I was excited about stopping them and then that evolved and then I saw all these great players before me like [former Comets] James Azbill and Gunnar Cheuvront,” he said. “They were really amazing and I watched their clips and I was able to see some of their games live and they were just amazing. So I really tried to be like them.”

Cheuvront, who plays at Loyola University, was named Catonsville Times Player of the Decade (2010-20) and Azbill, who plays for Towson University, was on the All-Decade team.

Roberson was named first team All-County, honorable mention All-State and he was named to the New Balance All-America team, along with defensive teammates John Gorski and Cole Lovell. Sammy Azbill made the New Balance All-America team for the younger age group.

Although lacrosse is definitely in his collegiate future, it’s not his immediate focus.

“I am getting college offers. It’s a pretty slow process, but we are just trying find the right school for me,” Roberson said. “Personally, it’s more about the school. As much as I love lacrosse, it’s more about the academics. I’m very interested in engineering going into college. I think that would be amazing if I could get that.”

While being an ironman who logs all the quality minutes on the lacrosse field, his action on the basketball court was limited. That made him learn to appreciate the reserves on the lacrosse sidelines.

“It’s eye-opening being on both sides of it, riding the bench all game and then playing all game,” he said. “I’ve come to appreciate the determination of my teammates on the bench to be able to just like be there for me all the time whenever I need them, just like how I was in basketball.”

Basketball coach Jason Harris appreciated his actions as a role player.

“He is a college athlete in a different sport and we know as a staff and even his teammates know that basketball is not his primary sport, but he brings a leadership through his actions, not as much his words,” Harris said. “Although this is not his primary sport, he comes to practice every single day, trying to win every sprint, trying to win every drill no matter who he’s going up against and it inspires all his team around him to bring out the best in them.”

“Basketball is not my best sport, but I’m always working as hard as I can,” Roberson said. “Coach Harris said it’s like leading from the bench, showing that even though I’m not getting minutes I’m working just as hard, which pushes the starters to be as good as they can be which is rewarding in its own right.”

Roberson dissects the game from a different perspective on and off the court.

“He’s also super helpful in film sessions, so whenever we watch film as a team you know Will is a very smart guy, so his perspective and how he perceives the game and points things out provides a lot of insight for his teammates to see things that they might not see,” Harris said.

That ability translated to his versatility on the football field, even though he lacked rec league experience.

“Football is something I just picked up going into high school. So I didn’t have a position per se and I just did whatever they told me to do which happened to be a lot,” Roberson said.

“Most of the game he was on the field,” said coach Jaren Maybin, noting he started at safety and wide receiver and was a punt returner. “He was really our quarterback on the defense. He would get the play call from coach [Jeff] Mueller, our defensive coordinator, he would communicate it with the team, he would get guys lined up in the right spot because he is a great student and he’s a great athlete and we kind of utilized his skill sets and his intelligence.”

Roberson had 19 tackles and several pass breakups according to Maybin.

“He was always in the right spot. If we need him to be in the right spot he would always be there,” Maybin said.

“I won’t lie, I didn’t make the big plays on offense. I always tried to just be as good as I can to help with the smaller plays,” Roberson said. “I don’t think I even had a touchdown catch the entire season.”

His 11 receptions were third on the team and he gained 142 yards (12.9 avg.)

“He put us in the right spot for a bunch of touchdowns,” Maybin said.

Roberson drew confidence from all three of his coaches.

“All my coaches in high school, coach Maybin, coach KR and coach Jason for basketball, they all have different philosophies of coaching and so I was able to take a piece from each one and just funnel it into all three of my sports,” Roberson said. “Coach Jason always had the work hard and keep running attitude, so I’m able to use that always in football and lacrosse and coach Maybin always had the, ‘Be a good teammate to your teammates,’ so I was able to use that to help my team in basketball and lacrosse. And then KR, maybe I’m a little biased, he’s my guy. He’s like everything.”

In addition to sports, Roberson was one of the Catonsville High Comet Culture Senior Leaders who are ambassadors for the school.

“They go around once every few weeks and they do presentations on all aspects on being a student and life after being a student,” Maybin said. “He actually came and presented to my classes all year and he does a great job with it. Will’s parents did a great job of raising him. He is a good dude on and off the field, on and off the court and in the classroom, Will is a great young man.”