By T. Scott Boatright
Ruston High School senior Payton Bell captured many honors during his football career playing on the Bearcats’ defensive line.
This week, Bell captured still another honor in the form of the $500 Greg “Big Coach” Williams Scholarship.
The scholarship is sponsored by the D-Dog Foundation and was announced during the RHS Football Awards Banquet earlier this year.
Bell was presented the $500 check on Wednesday at Ruston High School by the Big-Coach himself and D-Dog Foundation member Bobby Williams, who played under Big Coach’s guidance in the 1980s.
Greg Williams coached the Bearcats’ defense throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.
One of his teams, Ruston’s 1982 defense, fittingly labeled the “Crunch Bunch,” shut out several opponents in the Bearcats’ undefeated season that year, with opponents averaging less than 100 yards per game and being outscored 361-62.
Big-Coach said Bell’s unique skillset of speed, power, and passion allowed him to make an impact from Day One as a Bearcat.
Clark University, a HBCU in Atlanta, has offered Bell a football scholarship that Bell said he plans on signing after a couple of teammates and he can set up a scholarship signing ceremony.
“Payton is a great kid and a great student,” Big Coach said. “He’s the kind of young man and player I always loved coaching, doing everything with a calculated intensity both on and off the field.
‘He worked hard as a Bearcat football player and is very deserving of this scholarship.”
One of Bell’s teammates on the Bearcats, linebacker Zheric Hill, a Louisiana Tech signee, agrees with Big Coach’s assessment.
“Bell is one of a kind,” Hill said. “He’s that teammate that’s a natural at what he does. Bell was a 15-, 16-year-old going against 18-year-olds like 300 pounds more than him and he just kicked their butt.
“He has no fear. He plays the game with love and passion. He plays fast, too.”
A soft-spoken player who leads through his actions, Bell said he wants to pass down the lessons he’s learned and give younger players the tools to carry on the program’s recent success.
“I loved being a Ruston Bearcat and that will be a foundation I’ll bring with me going to play football at Clark Atlanta,” Bell said.
Bell said he’s also very appreciative of being honored by a man like Big Coach.
“It’s like a blessing on top of a blessing, to be honest,” Bell said. “Big Coach is a very big name at Ruston, and for someone like him to recognize me for a scholarship like that, in his name — it just means a lot. A whole lot.”
