MORE THAN JUST A GAME
By Billy W. Hobbs
Staff Writer McDuffie County Mirror
WARRENTON - What a difference a half can make - especially when a football team is without their starting quarterback.
But when Jamie Williamson showed up for the second half last Saturday night, the Augusta Ragin Bulls were a different football team.
Williamson, who has been the Ragin Bulls' starting quarterback all season, helped engineer his playoff-bound team from a 16-point first half deficit when he arrived for second half action. He was late for the game because of his work as a textile worker, according to Augusta Ragin Bulls Head Coach Al Goode.
As it turned out, the Ragin Bulls managed to score twice in the second half, tying Macon 16-16 at the end of regulation and sending the game
into a 15-minute overtime period.
Neither the Ragin Bulls nor the visiting Macon Tiger Cats were able to muster any points during the overtime period - thus the game ended in a 16-16 tie.
The Ragin Bulls, now 9-2-1 overall and 7-2, are two-time defending South Atlantic Division Champions, and are scheduled to host the first-round of the playoffs at Legion Field in Warrenton in two weeks. At this time, it could be even three weeks before that game is played, depending on whether or not the Ragin Bulls draw a bye in the first-round.
"We got off to a rocky start, having to play without our starting quarterback," admitted Coach Goode. "We consider Jamie Williamson our general. And our general was missing the first half. It made a big difference in the outcome of the game - not knocking Macon, because they fought us hard all the way to the end."
Williamson is considered an NFL prospect and so is Augusta's Ralph Scott, who plays defensive end and linebacker. Eight other players on the team are considered arena football prospects, Coach Goode said.
Web posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007
Carter drafted to NFL Europe STORY DATE Friday, 03/02/2007 11:12PM
Antwaun Carter RB #11 drafted By Cologne Centurions of NFL Europe:
The Georgia Ragin Bulls announce one of their very own, Antwaun Carter, has been drafted in the NFL Europe Draft by the Cologne Centurions. Carter the Bulls running back got some help from the Bulls organization. Back in October 2006, the Bulls helped Carter get his tryout with the Amarillo Dusters of AF2. A day later he was signed, but before he was able to play a down, he entered himself into the NFL Europe Draft and became a Cologne Centurion.
“I spoke with Antwaun," a team representative said, "today and he stated he is getting ready for the Centurions camp. He stated he hoped to do very well and to be picked up by an NFL team in the near future.”
Carter is out of Boise State University, 2-years removed. He will get his first professional experience later this month during the Centurions camp held in Florida.
This is not new to the Bulls, in sending up prospects. Just in the Bulls first season four college eligible players have found there way to Lagrange College by way of the Bulls, and several have joined the Augusta Spartans of the WIFL. When owner Jimmy Cronan was asked what makes the team prosper. Jimmy stated "It all starts with ownership of the team, the coaches, and the way the team is carried overall. When my guys step on the field, the other team knows that the Bulls were there win or lose, the Bulls were there." And as an owner I try very hard to put my guys out there so they are noticed, I consistently stay on the phone with every pro, and college team possible. Mr. Cronan stated the team has joined the NAFL 1 division and are looking up to the challenge, and if you don't know who the Bulls are before we get there, you will know who we are when we leave. To visit the Bulls site www.georgiaraginbulls.com or myspace.com/georgiaraginbulls
RELEASED FROM BULLS NEWS, AND ALSO NAFL SITE.
CARTERS LAST YEAR @ BOISE STATE BEFORE JOINING THE BULLS
Ex-prep stars need to pick up the pace
By Steve Sanders| Staff Writer
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Not long ago, Brandon Satcher and Jamie Williamson were on top of the area high school football scene.
Satcher was the South Carolina high school player of the year as North Augusta's quarterback in 2003, three seasons after Williamson led Silver Bluff to the South Carolina state championship as quarterback.
They each signed college scholarships - Satcher to Hawaii and Williamson to Catawba - but experienced unexpected setbacks and returned home.
Now, coach Bubba Diggs and the Augusta Spartans arena football team are giving them another shot.
Satcher and Williamson are expected to split time at quarterback for the Spartans, who open their season today at the Daytona Beach Thunder. Satcher is expected to start.
"We're similar in size and what we can do, but this is a totally different game than (conventional) football," Satcher said. "It's a lot quicker. So it'll be different for both of us.
"We've got a lot of talent and some great athletes. From the looks of it, I think we'll be all right," he said.
The key for Satcher and Williamson, coaches say, will be adjusting to the arena game.
"It's going to take a while. It won't happen overnight," Diggs said. "It's going to be a change of pace for them - a lot faster.
"Brandon's had a taste of Division I, so he's got the skills. He's just got to learn the arena game. If he and Jamie both grasp that, they both can be successful in this league," Diggs said.
Satcher racked up more than 4,000 yards and 48 touchdowns his senior year for the Yellow Jackets. He headed to Hawaii, where he played a handful of snaps in one game as a true freshman, costing him a year of eligibility.
He left the Rainbow Warriors and spent time at two smaller colleges before returning home. That's when Spartans receiver Anthony Young, also a former North Augusta standout, contacted Satcher, who jumped at the chance.
"I found myself missing (football), so getting back has been really nice. I hadn't played in five months and was eager to get back on the field," said the strong-armed Satcher (6-foot-1, 200 pounds).
Williamson, meanwhile, joined the Spartans after quarterbacking the Georgia Ragin' Bulls of the North American Football League to an 11-2 season.
"This is my first year of arena football, and I'm ready to compete," Williamson said. "It's a learning experience. Everything's faster here. I'm just getting used to it. But it's just a matter of time."
Offensive coach Neely Lovett said each guy has advantages.
"They both have strong arms, good footwork and are very smart. The thing for them is learning arena football," he said.
The Spartans return the core group of leaders from last year's team, which went 5-9 in the American Indoor Football League but finished on a strong note.
Today's game is the first-ever in the upstart World Indoor Football League, a four-team league the Spartans helped start in the offseason. Augusta's home opener is scheduled for March 24.
From the Augusta Spartans web January 5, 2007 January 5, 2007 --
GOODE JOINS SPARTANS COACHING STAFF
2007-01-05
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The Augusta Spartans have named Albert Goode their offensive coordinator.
Goode served as head coach for the Georgia Ragin' Bulls who compiled an inaugural season record of 11-2 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the North American Football League 2 national tournament.
"He's very sharp and he knows the game,'' Spartans coach Bubba Diggs said of Goode. "If we're definitely 11-2 or near that, I'll take it. He'll bring a lot to the table as we try to continue to bring a tradition of winning football to the CRSA."
Goode, 48, a 1983 graduate Savannah State, also serves on the coaching staff of Glen Hills high school, where he is offensive and special teams coordinator in addition to handling wide receivers. He also serves as head soccer coach.
In 1999, he was special teams coordinator and wide receiver coach for the Augusta Heat owned by former Georgia star Arthur Marshall who enjoyed stints in the NFL with the Denver Broncos and New York Giants.
"I've been in football for a while and this is definitely a step up for me,'' Goode said. "I'm going to have to get used to the size of the field and two men in motion, but football is football and offense is something I love."
Goode will be joined by five Ragin' Bulls, including QB Jamie Williamson, who was named Offensive of MVP at an NAFL All-Star game in Orlando last November.
From the Augusta Spartans web December 22, 2006 SPARTANS ADD THREE PLAYERS
2006-12-22
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The Augusta Spartans signed three players members from the Georgia Ragin' Bulls semi-pro team.
Quarterback Jamie Williamson, linebacker Ralph Scott and lineman Mac Young will join the second-year franchise. All three players plan to return to the North American Football League team upon conclusion of the World Indoor Football League season.
From the Metro Spirit November 10, 2005 Richmond County cop starts Ragin’ Bulls
It looks like that raise for police officers will bring joy to more than just the cops—football lovers will reap the benefits, too. Jimmy Cronan, a Richmond County police officer, recently started a local Southern Football League (SFL) team, the Georgia Ragin’ Bulls.
The Ragin’ Bulls join the Palmetto Dragons from Aiken, S.C., in the league that this year boasts 14 teams. Expect a little friendly rivalry, especially since Cronan used to be part owner of the Dragons.
“The SFL is getting huge and it’s going to be powerful, too,” said Cronan, who is also a player. “Most of the guys who are going to the next level are coming from the SFL. We’re going to be a real powerhouse, and the rival gang is going to be the Palmetto Dragons.”
William Owens and Ronnie Cushman also have ownership in the Bulls. Cronan said one reason he started the Bulls was to save gas.
“The Dragons were in South Carolina, but about 50 percent of the team was Georgia guys,” Cronan explained. “So I just decided to bring another team over here since those guys didn’t want to drive all the way to Aiken.”
With the existing Palmetto Dragons as competition and the dormant arenafootball2 team, the Augusta Stallions, still hanging out in the wings hoping for a comeback, can Augusta support this much helmet-to-helmet contact?
Cronan said that while there will be some rivalry, the addition of more teams is a welcome spark for a league that seems to be gaining momentum. And he’s quick to point out that the SFL does more than just offer a bunch of has-beens something to do on the weekend. Rather, the team is a jumping-off point for serious players.
“We have talent that hasn’t been discovered,” Cronan said. “We’ve got kids that have maybe been overshadowed by one or two guys at these local high schools, so they come to us. They don’t get paid, so we don’t violate any NCAA rules so therefore we can get them into college as well. I mean, you take a guy that’s 18 or 19 years old who can play with grown men, and college is going to get him at that level.”
He’s not exaggerating. Thomas Hawkins, a player from the Palmetto Dragons, got into Rainey River Community College in Minnesota because of his affiliation with the SFL.
Don’t confuse the Ragin’ Bulls and the SFL with being another arena league. “We’re real ball,” Cronan said. And they play on a real field, too. They just don’t know which one yet, although Cronan said that it will be an area high school field.
From the Columbia County News Times November 1st, 2006 November 1, 2006 --
By Billy Byler
Staff Writer
Columbia County News Times
Jamie Williamson thought his football career was over.
The former high school football star had been the starting quarterback for the 2000 state champion Silver Bluff Bulldogs. He accepted a scholarship to Catawba College in North Carolina in 2002, then transferred to Coastal Carolina after two years.
That's when Williamson had to give up his dream.
"At that point, my mom had some financial trouble, and I came home to help," he said. "I thought my football career was over then, but everybody kept pushing me. I saw an ad in the paper to play local football, so I made the phone call."
That call was the rebirth of Williamson's football career.
On the other end was Jimmy Cronan, the owner of a local semiprofessional football team based in Grovetown called the Georgia Ragin' Bulls.
After an afternoon tryout session, Williamson earned a spot on the team and has wowed Ragin' Bulls fans ever since.
"He's our team leader," Cronan said. "He can throw the ball 70-some yards flat-footed, and he's a runner. A running quarterback is something you've got to have. It opens the offense up so much more."
Williamson did just that through the 2006 season. Starting in late August, the first-year North American Football League team breezed past one opponent after another en route to a 9-1 regular season.
After a first-round win in the playoffs, Williamson had one of his best performances in the second round against Florida's undefeated Panhandle Tigers at a second-round playoff game at Augusta Christian's Pride Valley.
With the season on the line, the Ragin' Bulls trailed 12-8 with under a minute left in the game. Williamson drove the team inside the Tigers' 30-yard line, where he found teammate Antwaun Carter on a 28-yard touchdown pass with 39 seconds left to win the game and advance to the NAFL D-II quarterfinals.
"I remember in the huddle before the play the offensive line said, 'This is why you're the franchise player. Make something happen,'" Williamson said.
"I dropped back, then started to run, but one of the Panhandle guy's cut me off. Then I saw Antwaun up the middle with his hand up. Yeah, it was the game of my life," he said.
The win put the Ragin' Bulls in the quarterfinals, where they lost Saturday to the Louisiana Hurricanes 36-18.
The Ragin' Bulls finished the year with an 11-2 record, but Cronan said his mission isn't just wins and losses, and Williamson's story proves it.
"That's exactly what we're trying to establish. These local guys are some of the best athletes I've seen, and we want to give them a place to play," he said. "I don't understand how colleges missed some of these guys."
Cronan said the players don't receive payment for playing, which keeps them NCAA eligible. He also has played an active role in giving his post-college players a shot at the next level.
Ragin' Bulls running back Carter, formerly a star tailback at Boise State, recently signed with the Amarillo Dusters, an Arena Football League 2 team. Cronan said he's sending six more players to visit colleges around Georgia and South Carolina.
As for Williamson, he was chosen as the starting quarterback for the NAFL all-star game Nov. 12. After that, he'll set his sights on the NFL.
"I would like to go to an NFL combine, and show them what I'm capable of doing," he said. "If not there, I'd like to play for the (Augusta) Spartans."
From the Thursday, September 28, 2006 edition of the Augusta Chronicle September 28, 2006 --
Second chances
Team prepares football players for next level
By Steve Sanders| Staff Writer
Thursday, September 28, 2006
D.J. Parson figures his first and second chances to make it as a football player have passed him by. But I'm just out of college, I'm still young and I can still play," said Parson, 23, from Wadesboro, N.C. "This gives me another chance to play again, hopefully a chance to get to the next level.
"So I would consider it my third chance."
Parson is one of 53 members of the Georgia Ragin' Bulls, a Grovetown-based minor league football team that is providing one more opportunity for hopeful football players in the area.
In their first year of play in the North American Football League's Division 2, the Ragin' Bulls are 8-1 entering their last home game, against Savannah at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Augusta Christian.
That will be followed by a national tournament, in which the Bulls, ranked 18th in the nation, are likely to be a No. 1 or 2 seed.
"One of the main goals we have is to help those players who want to continue to play," coach Al Goode said. "This gives them that opportunity."
Take newly added running back Antwaun Carter, for example. The former South Aiken standout and Boise State Bronco joined the team this week.
"The Bulls organization knows that this is a stepping stone for Carter, and while his journey with us may be short, we want him to know that he is now a Bull, and he will always be a Bull," co-owner Jimmy Cronan wrote in a release. "As with any of our players, we will work to get him to the highest level possible."
Some players, such as 19-year-old receiver Damien Reddick out of Glenn Hills, are using the Bulls as a platform for making it into a college program. Cronan said Division III LaGrange has shown interest in Reddick.
"It's a really good opportunity for some people who excelled in high school but didn't get a chance at that next level for whatever reason," Reddick said. "This is my second chance, and I'm not going to let it slip away."
Then there are guys such as 32-year-old Dontae Davis, one of the team's oldest, and fastest, players. He joined the military out of high school and is here via Fort Gordon.
"A lot of the younger players couldn't believe this 32-year-old was faster than them," Davis said. "But that's what I enjoy about it, being in this type of environment."
Cronan said the Bulls hope to compete at the NAFL's Division 1 level next season. That will help the team's push to bring one of 50 $30 million stadiums the league is planning to build to the Augusta area.
"They've said Augusta is a good market for that," Cronan said.
Led by quarterback Jamie Williamson, who might be remembered for going 28-1 as a starter at Silver Bluff and helping win the 2000 state championship, the Bulls have outscored opponents 177-26.
"We have a lot of good area talent that people have just missed out on," Williamson said.
"I just feel it's a blessing to be able to play again," former Butler player Freeman Wilson said. "I thought I'd never have the chance again after high school, so I mostly take it as a blessing."
From the Thursday, September 28, 2006 edition of the Augusta Chronicle
