Ragsdale Signings!

Below is the article written by the News and Record on yesterday's college signings. There were a couple of mistakes. Cedric is going to Wingate College not Howard and Kasey is headed to Wofford not Elon.

Ragsdale Signings Come in Bunches
Friday, April 16, 2010 (Updated 7:12 am)
By Tom Keller
Staff Writer

JAMESTOWN — Billy Stone and Luke Sonricker made a promise to each other in fifth grade, as much as any 10-year-olds can mortgage their future.

One day, they said, we're going to play college football together.

That dream and a few others came true Thursday, as Stone and Sonricker signed letters of intent with Campbell to cap off a year in which eight Ragsdale football players earned chances to play at the next level.

"It's so weird to think we grew up playing together in the (Jamestown Youth League) and now we're all going to keep playing, which is pretty cool," Stone said. "It means so much more now."

Also signing Thursday were Elliott Cobb, a center who will play at Washington & Lee, and Tyler Ritter, an offensive guard who will attend Hampden-Sydney.

They join early signers Walt Sparks (Richmond), Daniel McNeil (N.C. A&T), Kasey Redfern (Elon) and Cedric Ellison (Howard) to give Ragsdale the most college-bound players head coach Tommy Norwood has ever had in one class.

"It was fun to practice with them every day," Norwood said. "You knew you were going to get a great attitude every day."

Stone, a linebacker who made 113 tackles this season, was a three-year starter alongside Sparks, Ellison and McNeil, a group that went 35-5 and won three conference titles. Cobb, Ritter, Sonricker and McNeil were two-year starters who went 26-2.

Ritter got used to the success. The 6-foot-2, 255-pounder said interest in him was nonexistent before his dad helped him set up a profile on www.berecruited.com. (See Tyler and Elliott Profile by clicking on their photos to the left of this article) He wound up hearing from 27 schools and travelling to seven states before settling on Hampden-Sydney, which went 10-1 and won the ODAC title.

He describes his immediate role there as "not a tackling dummy."

Sonricker, a 6-foot-4 wide receiver, broke his arm in October but defied the prognosis to make it back for Ragsdale's third-round playoff exit against Dudley. A big play threat, he caught 22 passes for 469 yards, a team-high 21.3 yard average and five touchdowns.

Cobb, a lean 6-foot, 220-pounder, said he's known many of this group since elementary school. It'll be fun to watch them all in their corners of the football universe this fall, but it won't be the same.

"I wish I could just strap them up one more time," Cobb said. "We all just knew each other so well."

BASEBALL: Ragsdale infielder Mike Whited also signed a letter of intent with Catawba College on Thursday, capitalizing on interest he gained while playing for the Thomasville Junior HiToms last summer. Whited plays shortstop for Ragsdale but could start at second or third base next year for the Indians, who are 32-8 and in third place in the South Atlantic Conference.

"There's nothing better than being part of a winning team," Whited said.

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com