Southeast Missourian football player of the year: Central senior Mikey Jones goes from cart to off the charts

Yes, it's safe to say Mikey Jones and the Central Tigers were misdiagnosed early in the 2013 football season.

Many high school football watchers were writing off the Tigers after a 1-4 start to their season. They didn't have the look of a team about to go on an eight-game winning streak and bound for the Class 4 semifinals.

A medical person also had written off the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Jones in the second game of the season at St. Charles West.

"He was diagnosed with a torn ACL on the field, which you really hate to tell a kid that," Central coach Nathan Norman said about his featured running back. "In hindsight it was an away game and the visiting doctor gave us that diagnosis on the field ... and that was tough to swallow."

It indeed was a bleak picture for the speedy Jones, who was injured on his 29th carry and 182nd yard of the night.

Taken off the field in a cart late in the 40-38 loss to SCW, he didn't have the look of guy bound for a school record-breaking 2,076-yard season and a school-tying 27 touchdowns.

Jones remembers the fourth-quarter play in slow motion.

"I tried to jump over a defender, and as soon as I jumped in the air, another defender hit me, and when I was flying backwards, another defender hit me in my knee," Jones said.

According to the attending doctor, Jones' final statistics for the season read 240 yards and two touchdowns.

But this is not a hard-luck story -- it's about the Southeast Missourian Player of the Year.

2013 All-Missourian Football - Mikey Jones - Cape Central High School (Laura Simon)

"As time went on my trainer and I, we both thought, 'Hey this just doesn't seem like that's the case,'" Norman said. "But you never know until you get it tested. We had the MRI done, and sure enough, we had good news."

Jones had a hyperextension and deep bruise.

He would be back, which was bad news for teams like Hillsboro and Miller Academy, who would have their seasons ended by Jones and his two healthy legs.

Jones took his medicine first, sitting out Central's lone win over the first five weeks.

His knee was tested early and often in a lopsided loss to Fort Zumwalt East in Week 4. He carried 26 times for 97 yards and had a 2-yard TD run.

Central running back Mikey Jones carries to the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown against Miller Career Academy as Jalen Reddin celebrates during the fourth quarter of the Class 4 quarterfinal Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013 in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

"After I hurt my knee, I thought I was going to be like weak and not be able to run the ball no more like I use to," Jones said. "I think after my injury I went harder and played the game even harder than when I did before."

Central bottomed out the following week with a 56-27 loss to rival Jackson to fall to 1-4. However, Jones was a bright spot with 220 yards on 26 carries.

"Really to me, as a coach looking back on those games early in the year, that's when I appreciated him as much, if not more, than when we were winning, because he's a guy who never hung his head and never complained," Norman said. "He gave 110 percent when we were losing by 15 or 20. It was just the same as when we were ahead by 20. He was the same guy. That's what you like to coach: You like to coach a kid who [says], 'Hey, it doesn't matter what the scoreboard says.'"

The scoreboard did get friendlier to the Tigers.

The real fun began when Jones dashed for 151 yards and two touchdowns in a 59-21 rout of Farmington.

The Tigers followed with a comeback win against Sikeston, and Jones scored the winning touchdown in overtime to beat Chaminade the following week.

His big-play ability against Festus extended the winning streak to four games and upgraded the Tigers' district seeding substantially. Jones scored on an 89-yard pass play with 7 seconds left to break a 56-56 deadlock. Jones repeatedly stiff-armed a defender down the sideline on the winning run.

"Mikey's not usually a person that can catch a ball," said Central record-breaking sophomore receiver Al Young said with a laugh. "We just gave him a chance, and he showed up there. He was like, 'If you give me a chance, I can do it.' [Quarterback] Dennis [Vinson] threw it to him."

Jones is quick with a smile and playful. He enjoys the banter with teammates.

"No, I can't catch it," Jones confirmed with a laugh when informed of Young's assessment, but quickly assured: "I can catch it when we need it."

There was no doubt the Tigers were in need at that time, and as the games got bigger, Jones proved to be the man.

"He's not a real vocal guy, but the kids listen to him and followed him by example," Norman said. "He's just so tough and strong ... and he's a winner. He wants to win. They fed off that. They could see that. That's just him."

District wins at home followed against Farmington and Festus, putting the Tigers in Hillsboro, Mo., on a cold, rainy, windy night against the top-seeded Hawks.

---

"Everybody likes Mikey," Vinson said. "He likes to have fun. He laughs a lot and plays around a lot."

Jones has a swagger of confidence that he'll use in playful ways, even on the field.

Central running back Mikey Jones runs for the winning touchdown against Miller Career Academy as teammate Jalen Reddin celebrates during the Class 4 quarterfinal game at Central. (Fred Lynch)

"He'll joke in the game," Young said. 'Let's go get this first down or touchdown.' He'll act a little cocky, but when it's time to get serious, he gets serious."

Tigers senior center/linebacker Scottie Thomas has played football with Jones since eighth grade.

"It depends on what part of the game we're in," Thomas said. "If it's crunch time, we're down -- it's time to go. He's going to be real serious and be real loud saying, "Let's go. If you don't want to play, get out of the huddle.' But if we're up big, he's just kind of in there joking, keeping everybody going.

"It's like a switch goes off. If it's time to go, it's time to go. If not, he'll play around. But as soon as it's time to go, he'll turn that switch on in a heartbeat."

---

Central found itself in a dogfight against Hillsboro, leading 24-20 in the third quarter. The switch got flipped.

Jones turned unstoppable with runs of touchdown runs of 55, 34 and 65 yards and added a 90-yard run -- all in the third quarter.

"After I scored my first touchdown, I had to go get some more," said Jones, who ran for 252 yards in the quarter. "Plus I wanted it to be over -- it was cold."

The sight of Jones bursting through the right side of the line played out time and again.

"My favorite play is 24 power, 24 down," said Jones.

The play involved a pulling guard that Jones followed between the opposite guard and tackle.

"Our left guard, Zach [Stagner], he would open it up wide for me, and I'd just get it and go," Jones said.

He finished the night with a school-record 347 yards and broke Monroe Hick's 11-year-old single-season record for rushing. Central won its first district title since 2006 with the 59-33 win.

---

In the quarterfinals against Miller Academy, Jones had 88 yards on 29 carries as the game clock ticked down toward a minute in the game.

Central running back Mikey Jones beams after scoring the winning touchdown against Miller Career Academy during the fourth quarter of the Class 4 quarterfinal game at Central last month. (Fred Lynch)

A shocked Central team somehow had seen a luxurious 18-0 lead in the fourth quarter get twisted into a 22-18 deficit.

"He was mad the first half," Young said. "Every time he got tackled somebody was pinching him or something. He was like, 'I can't get no yards, I can't get nothin',' and we were like, 'You're going to get one. You're going to break a big one.' And when it came to close to the end of the game, he broke a long run to win the game."

The Tigers were in desperation mode at the Phoenix's 31-yard line when Jones and "24 power, 24 down" struck with 58 seconds remaining.

Jones went over 2,000 yards for the season against Miller Academy as Central reached the semifinals for the first time since 1978.

The Tigers lost in the semifinals to three-time state champion Webb City, which later extended its streak to four straight titles.

But the distance the Tigers and Jones traveled from their early woes was remarkable.

---

"I knew he was going to have a big year because he's been working hard for his whole career pretty much," Vinson said. "I didn't know he would have this many yards. I knew he was going to have a big year."

Norman took note during the winter months last year that Jones had the determination, drive and athletic ability to play a big role his senior season.

"We saw that in basketball, the way he played basketball his junior year," Norman said. "He's a defensive machine in basketball, and you have to be very unselfish to be like that. He's a tough competitor. I knew he had it in him."

Jones had just 224 yards on 53 carries his junior year as he waited in the wings behind then-seniors Chris Martin and Jacob Campbell, who both topped 1,000 yards.

"I knew I was going to have to step up and be a leader because last year I didn't play that much because we had two senior running backs ahead of me," Jones said. "I knew I had to step up this year so the backs next year can be the same way. I went in with a positive attitude and make stuff come."

When he got his chance, he did what he does best -- he ran with it.

Or in Norman's words:

"You really can't sum it up any better way than this: Weather doesn't affect him, score doesn't affect him, level of competition doesn't affect him. He's going to bring it every time. That's what you ask for."