MASON JONES

STIGLER HIGH SCHOOL

You wouldn’t know it watching him run the football today for the Stigler Panthers, but senior Mason Jones was a reluctant recruit to the sport of football.

“My stepdad kept trying to get me to try football and I finally gave in around the fourth grade. Honestly, I didn’t like it at first, but my stepdad said we’ve already paid for it, so you’re going to stay with it, and I ended up falling in love with it after that,” said Jones who also does drama and powerlifting.

He qualified for state in powerlifting last year but got sick and was unable to compete so getting back there this year is one of his goals along with rushing for 1500 yards. At the half mark of the season he has 760 yards.

As a running back for the Panthers, Jones can bring the crowd to its feet with his abilities according to his coach Cade Shearwood.

“Mason is an electric football player with great speed and vision and so far this season he’s averaged about 150 yards per game. He’s also a good leader on and off the field.”

Jones is one of several talented seniors on the Panther squad and generally believes in letting his actions speak to his leadership.

“I think a good leader is someone who can grab everyone’s hand and lead them on the right path and try to get everyone going. I just lead by leaving it all on the field at practice or in games with no excuses.”

Mason has an older brother Morgan who he played with for a couple of years before graduating and his brother figured into one of the highlights of Mason’s football career at Stigler.

“Last year in our first-round playoff game against Holland Hall he made the interception that helped us win the game and that was pretty big because that was the first time we had ever beaten a private school.”

The brothers are both athletic and played all the major sports which led to some pretty competitive times according to Mason.

“We were definitely competitive. We could probably play tic-tac-toe and end up fighting about who’s the best,” Mason laughed.