Ridgeland shooters best Cartersville, remain unbeaten
The Ridgeland High School rifle team continued the best start in program history with a doubleheader sweep of visiting Cartersville on Saturday at the MSGT Carl Gentry Range.
The Panthers (8-0) were led in the opener by junior Mckenzie Hunter, who scored a 279 out of a possible 300, while junior Brooke Smith was the top shooter in the second match with a 273.
Also shooting for Ridgeland in the two matches were senior Jasmayn Walcott, junior Kayla Brewer, sophomore Athen Blair and freshmen Ryson Haag and Elizabeth Quarles.
Ridgeland was scheduled to host Dalton in a match on Tuesday of this week before entertaining Sonoraville on Thursday.
It might be one of the most pressured-packed positions on a football team, the mostly anonymous long snapper.
Do your job correctly and you give your team a greater chance of succeeding on punts, field goals and extra points. Make a mistake and it’s there for the world to see.
Like anyone position on the field, it takes years of work and dedication to the craft to become good and over the course of the last six years, Heritage’s Jonathan Washburn has done just that, working and dedicating a good portion of his life to becoming the best long snapper he can possibly become, all the while with an eye on a fulfilling a lifelong dream.
And this past Wednesday, Washburn achieved his goal and signed on to play college football for the University of Georgia.
“It’s an amazing feeling and it’s a big weight off my chest,” Washburn explained. “This is something that I’ve been working hard for for a really, really long time. I’m just glad all the hard work has paid off and I couldn’t have done it without all the people in my life supporting me.”
The 6-foot-2, 225-pounder is the top-ranked long snapper in the state of Georgia by Chris Rubio Long Snapping and ranked fourth nationally for the Class of 2021. He is one of just four long snappers given a six-star rating — the highest given — by Rubio.
“First off, he can pass an eyeball test very quickly and there is no doubt he has the frame to be snapping a ball for a long, long time,” Rubio wrote in his website following a camp in early December. “Starting form is good and he is easily able to snap the ball under 0.75 (seconds) on a consistent basis. Form is great and he has some very quick hands. Washburn has excellent balance and the harder he snaps the ball, the better he will do in the long run. The more Washburn focuses on this great craft, the more dominant he will be. All of the tools to be a stud for a long time.”
Washburn also had offers from Arizona, Charlotte and Penn, but as a professed longtime fan of the Bulldogs, said he couldn’t turn down a chance to suit up for his home state school.
“To be honest, (college) is the reason I’ve been (long snapping) since seventh grade,” he continued. “My goal was always to be able to play college football and I figured long snapping would be a good route to get me there. It was a goal for me and I achieved it.”
“He’s spent a lot of time on (long snapping),” Heritage head coach E.K. Slaughter said. “He’s flown all over the country to train and to work on it and he did so with this goal in mind. It’s cool to be able to see someone put in the work and then get paid at the end for all of his efforts.”
Long snapping, however, wasn’t all Washburn did well for the Generals.
As a junior playing linebacker, he recorded 78 tackles with three going for a loss, while adding two fumble recoveries, an interception and a blocked field goal. Then this past season, he moved to defensive end and was a Catoosa-walker Dream Team and 7-AAAA All-region first team selection with 32 solo tackles, 14 for loss, seven sacks, two more fumble recoveries and another blocked field goal to help his team get back to the playoffs.
“He was a stud for us this year,” Slaughter added. “We had a couple of really talented guys on the defensive line that we’re just great effort guys. Plus, he’s a big strong kid. He was just great for us defensively.”
Washburn said he felt he would be a long snapper exclusively in Athens, but wouldn’t mind the chance to play some snaps on the other three downs.
“They haven’t talked to me about (playing any other positions),” he said. “The chances are pretty low, but I’ll just have to see whenever I get there. That would be pretty great though.
“I’m just going to bring leadership and probably some charisma to the team. I’m going to be a hard worker there and just try to lift up everyone around me and be the best player I can be.”
Washburn said said he will likely study something in the business field to follow in the footsteps of his father, whom he said he has always looked up to.