East-West Game preview: QB Bryan Jones knows how to switch gears

Bryan Jones took the football, stepped, planted and fired deep.

The 40-yard pass overthrew his West All-Star teammate Brock Colaner by a stride on the Paul Brown Tiger Stadium turf.

Overthrow the next time. And again.

Jones is finding it’s not so easy for a quarterback to rediscover his timing after six months off as he heads into Saturday’s 21st annual Repos-itory East-West All-Star Foot-ball Game. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Fawcett Stadium.

‘The quarterback position, you are in the coach’s pocket all the time,” Jones said. “You are attached to his hip learning everything about the offense.”

Jones should know learning on the fly. At Northwest, he made the transition from handing off out of the I-formation during his junior year to slinging the football in the spread his senior season.

After throwing just 116 passes in 2008, Jones attempted 372 passes last fall.

“We averaged 300 pounds up front my junior year,” said Jones, a 6-foot-1, 190-pounder. “Last year, I’m passing it 40 times a game.”

Jones was sensational in Vic Whiting’s spread attack. Jones amassed 3,030 passing yards and 29 touchdown passes last year as the Indians went 8-4 overall and reached the Division III, Region 10 semifinals.

His biggest yardage games — 365, 333 and 320 — earned him the top three spots in Northwest’s record book. Two other times, Jones threw for more than 290 yards.

Evan Bach was the Indians’ top receiver, catching a school-record 64 passes for 924 yards.

Joining Jones and Bach on the West squad from Northwest are Seth Miracle, Jesse Calcei, Tim May, Joey Demaree and Mitch Lewis.

Whiting said the main reason the Indians were able to transform their offense seemingly overnight was Jones’ ability to flip the switch under center — and in his head.

“He developed excellent field vision,” said Whiting, a West assistant. “He learned how to understand defenses, how to read defenses.

“He was a leader. He didn’t get rattled. That’s big for a quarterback in the spread. He realized every play that he had a chance to make a score.”

Six months later, Jones has found out how timing can be everything in life. Coming off one of the few 3,000-yard passing seasons in Stark County history, Jones said he’s leaning toward either Akron or Kent State — to run track.

The Division I football offers he held out for simply didn’t materialize. The Division II and NAIA scholarships he was offered dried up as he concentrated on trying to win a state long jump championship for Northwest.

“I waited too long,” said Jones, who took third in the Division II long jump. “I sat on it too long because of track. That hurt.”

But when you can leap almost 23 feet as Jones can, colleges take notice. Jones won the Stark County Track and Field Championship long jump twice in three years.

Akron and Kent State like Jones’ athleticism, not just his spring.

“They say I’ll come in and long jump, but they’re talking about being a decathlete and multi-events,” said Jones. “We’ll see. I’m pretty excited because I’m pretty raw for track. I’ve really only had one full year. My sophomore year, after the Stark County meet, I pulled my hamstring from the bone and fought it all my junior year.”

Now that Jones is healthy, he is entertaining thoughts of walking on for football at Akron. Whiting hopes his QB gets a chance.

“I’d like to see him play quarterback at Akron or Kent,” Whiting said. ‘How many kids have thrown for 3,000 yards in a season? Not too darn many.”

First Jones has one last high school game to play.

“I’m excited. This is going to be a fun game,” he said. “It’s probably going to make me miss (football) a lot. But we’ll see how much I miss it once I play the game.

“I’ve got one last game with my (Northwest) teammates. Then you’ve got all these other athletes you’ve watched and you think, ‘Man, I wish they were on my team.’

“Now, they are.”





Northwest’s Bryan Jones by the numbers:

Year    Att    Comp    Yds    TD    Int

2008    116    67    917    9    8

2009    372    223    3,030    29    13