CHAPEL HILL - Disappointment resonated in his voice, and his enthusiasm was tempered, but Dee Williams stood like a champion outside the visitors' locker room at Kenan Stadium Saturday night.

The 5-foot-10 senior wide receiver, along with 39 teammates and the South Johnston coaching staff, had just seen their dream of a state championship erased by a ferocious South Point second-half comeback.

But while the scoreboard read Belmont South Point 42, South Johnston 28, Williams, who is bound for the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas game in Spartanburg, S.C., Saturday, spoke like a winner.

"I guess we were so excited about being in the position we were in, I think we lost our focus in the second half," said Williams, who scored three touchdowns in leading the Trojans to a 28-14 halftime lead.

With the state title game now just a memory, Williams, who is undecided as to his college future, reflected on what lay ahead, at least in the near future, and his career at South.

"I'm very excited about the Shrine Bowl," Williams said. "Ever since I was a freshman and when I first heard about it, it is was a goal of mine to be in the all-star game.

"I worked hard, worked hard and worked hard," Williams said, "And at the Shrine Bowl Combine, I did everything I could to stand out."

Williams will be joined by two other Johnston County football notables on the North Carolina team. Smithfield-Selma standout Josh Snead, a Duke recruit and former teammate of Williams at South, will play in the game. Spartans' coach Anthony Barbour will serve as an assistant coach for the Tar Heels when the game kicks off at 1 p.m. on the Wofford College campus.

But, for Williams and Snead, there was a waiting period to find out if all those years of preparation and hard work had paid off, as the coaching staff pared down the hopefuls to the roster that will represent North Carolina in the annual event.

When he received news of his selection, and even now, Williams was and is humbled by his selection.

"I feel like it was an honor for me to be selected," Williams said, "and it was an honor for the school too, because they haven't had that many people to go to the Shrine Bowl in the past."

But with the selection comes another week of hard work and game preparation, and also the pageantry that goes along with the event.

Williams cannot wait for either: "I expect to go down there, learn a lot about the Shriners and their hospital, and then hope to play a great game."

He has a general idea of what to expect from the coaching staff, based on what he went through at the combine: simple stuff, he said, for receivers, as well as blocking schemes, technique and dealing with the media.

"I picked up a lot of stuff at the Combine," Williams said, "so I pretty much know what to expect."

He then took time to reflect on playing his last scholastic game with his long-time friend and quarterback, Patrick Dunigan, with whom he has played since their days in Pop Warner football, and during his career at South.

Williams described the feeling of it being his final game with Dunigan as heartbreaking.

"I just believe we had some great years together," he said, "And happy they ended on the big stage. I'm going to miss him a lot and hope his career is great after this year."

To Williams, playing for South was a lot of hard work, and a lot of fun - but besides the cheers, press clippings and adoration, he takes something more important with him from his scholastic career.

"Under the direction of coach [Joe] Salas, you become a better man," Williams said. "Not just a better football player, but a better man in life. He teaches things that are going to help you in life and life situations. That's one thing about his program - it might not be the biggest or baddest program in the state, but when you walk away, you become a better student, a better athlete and a better man."