WARNER ROBINS -- When the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament starts this week, Northside High School sophomore William Crouch will be there as one of the participants.

Wednesday is the first day of the tournament, but William’s episode is scheduled to air at 7:30 p.m. Friday on WMAZ.

William, 16, watched the tournament last year and decided to take the quiz with several of his friends.

Little did he know that a few months later he would be in the studio with host Alex Trebek competing for a chance to win the $75,000 grand prize.

“I was one of the lucky ones,” William said.

His competition included some teens who already have been accepted to Harvard University.

William plans to apply to New York University, Stanford University and maybe Harvard. He wants to be a foreign service officer to help facilitate overseas adoptions.

In the summer, he was notified that his quiz scores qualified him for the regional competition in New Orleans where there was a mock game, test and interview.

Northside High Principal Greg Peavy masterminded a surprise at school to let William know he was going to be in the Teen Tournament. William went to Los Angeles to film the show in November.

“It came as a complete shock,” William said.

Peavy had high praise for William, a nominee for the Governor’s Honors Program.

“He’s an exceptional kid,” Peavy said.

At school William will receive a Classroom Jeopardy! game as part of his prize for participating in the tournament

The game will be played Friday during Jami Moore’s honors chemistry class. A “Jeopardy!” staff member is scheduled to deliver the computer game and act as host while William and his classmates participate in the interactive quiz show.

William should be an expert at pressing the buzzers because during his time in Los Angeles, he had training on how to use them.

Trebeck’s introduction of the teenager was the only time William was able to talk to the show’s host.

“We don’t get to meet him,” he said.

William is most excited about seeing the wild card rounds on Wednesday and Thursday because he was unable to view those during taping.

He has kept up with all of his 14 fellow contestants. Kelton Ellis, a junior at Central High School in Macon, also was selected for the tournament.

“I kind of surprised myself,” William said of his time on the show.

Although he isn’t able to say where he finished or whether he made it to the second round, he was pleased with his experience.

“I can say I did something that was kinda cool,” he said.