New football team coming to Gordon County

12/19/06
Drew Brantley
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Gordon County football fans will have another team to watch in 2007.

The newly formed semipro North Georgia Bulldogs will call Cardinal Stadium at the old Red Bud High School home when it opens its Southern Football League season there in July.

Being guided by two former Gordon Central High School graduates, Kacee Smith and Marcus Reynolds, the team will hold tryouts early in the new year to fill out the roster.

“This is a completely new team,” Smith said. “There’s a few onboard, but we’ve got a lot of empty spots to fill. We’ll probably also have a tryout late in February.”

The Southern Football League originated as the Georgia Football League and traces its history back to 1980. The league aims to provide players at many levels to stay in the game, according to its Website.

“This team was brought here to give young men a chance to keep playing or to go further in their football career, as scouts will periodically be at the games,” Smith said. “And a tape of each game is submitted to the league officials who will keep track of young men that excel in the sport, and will be entered into the Arena Football League, Canadian League or the NFL.”

Co-founder, Kacee Smith said “he is very excited about this whole situation as bringing a Semi-pro football team to the area has been a dream of his for a long time.”

The Bulldogs aim to play some preseason games in late spring, but will open the season in July.

Games will played on Saturday nights with ticket prices slated for $7.

Players in the league are not paid, leaving their eligibility in tact for colleges that may come calling.

And getting a football team in Gordon County has been part of the drive for Smith to get back on the football field for a college team.

Smith suffered injuries to both legs that after nearly two years led to him having to have rods put in both legs from the knees to the ankles.

This injury kept Kacee from playing college football but he said “through the grace of God, hard work, prayers and a supportive family he is ready to give football another chance.

Smith is an example of the kind players the SFL exists to help.

Injured in his senior year at GCHS, he discovered he had bad fractures in both legs after playing in a summer all-star football game.

“I had a few college offers, and I was checking on them, but my legs hurt so bad I had an MRI,” Smith said. “It showed I had been playing on severly fractured shins.”

Atlanta Falcons head physician and orthopedic surgeon Scott Gillogly performed surgeries on Smith, inserting pins in procedures in Januray and March.

“(Gillogly) was the only one who really took me in,” Smith said. “I saw five or six doctors. (Gillogly) was the only one who was supportive. He said, ‘the rods are in; do what you think you can.’”

GETTING A COACH

Bringing Reynolds in as head coach was Smith’s first goal.

“This is the first big step in making a good team with a promising future in the SFL,” Smith said “Marcus has a good coaching style, and as part owner I know he will take us where we want to go.”

Marcus is a native of Calhoun, Georgia where he and his wife Lisa reside and have a son, Marcus Reynolds Jr.

Marcus said “he was a three-sport athlete at Gordon Cen-tral and was awarded MVP honors for both football and basketball. He received all state honors as a quarterback for the Warriors.

Reynolds received a scholarship to Alabama A &M Uni-versity in Huntsville where he was a three-year starter and received all conference honors.

He graduated in 1996 with a B.A. in English Education. Tryouts will be Jan. 13-14 from 1-4 p.m. at Cardinal Sta-dium.