Sports

Family ties

• Behind Bainbridge’s surprise run in the state playoffs has been the two-way play of Nick Williams and Ramadon Jimoh-Osi — cousins who have dreamt  of success like this ever since they were young.

Colin Chmielewski

BAINBRIDGE — More than a decade ago, two boys in Bainbridge tossed a football around in a backyard, dreaming of simply making the varsity someday.

As the boys grew, so did their dreams. They made the Bearcats varsity. Then they both became starters. But their team still didn’t experience much success.

Knowing that Nick Williams and Ramadon Jimoh-Osi began scheming for greatness years ago only makes the reality of what has transpired this season seem even more implausible.

The two cousins, who still do everything together since those days in Williams’ backyard, have now made some of the biggest — and most memorable — plays during Bainbridge’s deepest postseason run since 1993.

Oddly enough, that wasn’t many years before Williams and Jimoh-Osi joined forces.

“It started when they were little boys. From the time they were old enough to hold a ball in their hands, I had one in their hands,” said Williams’ father, Percy.

Instead of Percy now, it’s new Bainbridge coach Ricky Woods who is putting the ball in both players’ hands. As the season has worn on, injuries and athletic ability have led to Woods finding ways to have Williams and Jimoh-Osi contribute on both sides of the ball.

“I think we’re pretty lucky,” said Woods, whose team travels to play undefeated Tucker in the state quarterfinals Friday. “Both of them can play.”

Williams and Jimoh-Osi have made equally large contributions for Bainbridge (9-3) this season — only on opposite sides of the ball.

Williams, who will play safety at Georgia next fall after committing earlier in the season, started the year at quarterback and has thrown for 997 yards and 11 TDs, while also running for 453 yards and another seven scores.

Linebacker Jimoh-Osi (pronounced Jimmy-O-see) is the Bearcats’ leading tackler with 110, including 18 for a loss. But playing solely offense or defense didn’t fully utilize the athletic talents that Williams and Jimoh-Osi possessed.

After an injured hamstring — and two early losses to Early County and Cairo —Woods went with sophomore James Hudson at QB. While Hudson led the Bearcats to four consecutive wins, Williams moved to a new position: linebacker.

“I always wanted to be a defensive player. I’ll play anywhere; wherever the team needs me,” said the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Williams. “I didn’t really know I was going to be such a contributor to the defense.”

To say Williams became a contributor in his new role is an understatement.

He totaled 38 tackles, four sacks and three interceptions, all while learning outside linebacker for the first time. Just as Williams was getting comfortable there, Hudson injured his ankle in the Americus-Sumter game.

Williams promptly came in at QB and led the Bearcats back from a 21-0 deficit to a crucial 30-21 win. It was the first of three double-digit comebacks with Williams at the helm — Bainbridge trailed Statesboro, 14-0, and Fayette County, 17-7, and 24-14 before winning.

“The fourth quarter, people tend to think the game is over. I take it as the game is just beginning,” Williams said. “I turn it up a notch in the fourth quarter.”

Last week’s 28-24 victory against Fayette County was a sparkling example of Williams’ late-game mojo. He went 7-of-10 for 83 yards with two touchdowns in the final period.

But none of what he has accomplished in the postseason would be possible without his cousin. Late in the season, Woods started to realize that Jimoh-Osi had ability that would also help on offense.

“I knew he could run because he’s so quick on defense,” Woods said. “He runs about a 4.5 or 4.4. But he’s probably a little better running back than I expected.”

Woods learned that firsthand in the Statesboro game. With his team sputtering on offense, the coach brought Jimoh-Osi in at quarterback. In the mold of Florida’s Tim Tebow, Williams watched as his cousin ran for 48 yards on direct snaps, including the Bearcats’ first score of the night.

“The first game of the playoffs, he set the tone,” Williams said. “We saw Ramadon was ready to play. He came in and scored. We were fired up.”

The Bearcats were even more fired up when Jimoh-Osi — who is being recruited by Troy, East Carolina, Louisville, Arkansas and UAB — caught the game-winning TD on a deflection with 37 seconds left last week against Fayette County.

“Game-winning touchdown, man? That’s awesome, man,” Jimoh-Osi said of his first career catch. “It’s been a real big surprise. I didn’t think I’d come in and do something like that.”

Jimoh-Osi may not have expected it, but someone who has been watching much longer did.

“I expect for them to make big plays,” Percy Williams said. “(Ramadon and Nick) have been together since they were itty, little boys. They’ve kind of went through the transition of making mistakes and correcting and working hard.”

For this postseason, all that work and all those dreams have paid off. And for two cousins who grew up playing catch, there’s not much better.

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