Springs Valley Community High School

As Kayce Jones approached the sideline during Springs Valley’s trip to Crawford County last week, his teammates gathered around. They came from each end of the typical line of reserves, coaches, and support staff to celebrate a Springs Valley safety, and celebrate they did. Just as Jones reached the sideline, he sprung upward in his best attempt to take flight. As he returned to the earth he mimicked a dunking motion, throwing his arm back and then thrusting it downward at the last second. His teammates went nuts. It was just one of many, many celebrations the sophomore has taken part in over the course of this season, a season in which he’s grown from varsity hopeful to team leader in the blink of an eye. “Just to see that joy in Kayce and his teammates is what this game, this team, and our program are all about,” Springs Valley head coach Jason Lowe said. “I love seeing him come to the sideline and knowing he's got a group of buddies ready to celebrate those moments with him. These kids buy in, stick together and go through the hard times, they certainly deserve the opportunity to share in moments like those.” To this point in the season, Jones has undeniably been one of Springs Valley’s best defensive players and perhaps one of the best defensive players in the conference. Despite playing defensive tackle, a position that can be tasked more with taking up space and plugging gaps than actually making tackles depending on the system, Jones is one of the Blackhawks’ leading tacklers. He’s got 43 through six games, trailing only starting linebackers Ezra Mills, Jack Dalton, and Jonas Hammond. He’s also been a disruptive force in the backfield, leading Springs Valley with 12.5 tackles for loss and sitting second on the team with 2.5 sacks through six games. “He's a dude. Kayce has always been a very physical football player and he's a good athlete as well, we just needed to find a way to put that together,” Lowe said. “Having him inside our defensive line puts him up against a lot of offensive linemen that aren't as athletic as him and some aren't as physically as strong as Kayce either. This gives him a great advantage and you're seeing the results on Friday nights.” Jones’ presence has also had an effect on the guys around him. Xander Cook, for example, is enjoying a strong season at defensive end for the Blackhawks with 10 tackles for a loss and three sacks. In the three games that Larron Childers, Springs Valley’s other end, has been active he’s also been productive with a sack, 3.5 tackles for a loss, and 26 total tackles. “It brings them to life, really,” Springs Valley line coach Alex Pierce said. “I think when you have a guy like that who’s not only playing for the guys that are looking up to him, but also for the guys who are trying to coach him and he’s bringing the energy, I think it brings those guys up to a whole other level. I don’t think it’s ever a bad thing to have somebody come forward and try to do that.” Impressively, Jones is doing all of this despite some circumstances that could have — or even should have — held him back. This is his first season really playing at the varsity level, for one, and he’s just a sophomore. Then there’s the fact that before this season he’d never really been a lineman. He’d been a skill-position guy who even carried the ball four times for the varsity team last year. Over the course of time though he’s grown into being able to compete and even dominate at the line of scrimmage which was a welcome sight for a team that had holes to fill there coming into the season. “I absolutely love it. I really like seeing some of those guys go from either skill positions to the line or vice versa. I think it’s a great thing to always be flexible and I think it shows these younger guys that even if you have certain things you want to do, you can learn new things to help out the team,” Pierce said. “I think that’s great and I also think him being willing to do such a thing and then perform to this level, I think it’s good for everybody.” On top of all of his production so far, Jones has also stepped up as a positive force in the Blackhawks’ locker room. He’s a natural goofball, the kind that’s always making the people around him laugh, and he’s supportive of those people as well. He’s just as willing to talk about anime — Japanese cartoons for the uninitiated — as he is about ball depending on who he’s around. Turns out he’s as flexible off the field as he is on it. “I think everybody looks forward to seeing him. Everybody’s ready to give him a high five, talk to him, and he’s ready to give them a high five and hug them,” Pierce said. “He’s a guy you can go to especially if you’ve got something going on in your life.” Only a sophomore, Jones has years ahead of him to grow and become even greater on the field. He’s already been hard at work in the weight room, which will be part of what fuels his growth, and because of that the Blackhawks are excited about his future. “I know over the course of the next year or two he's only going to get stronger. Coach (Jonathon) Bowles is working hard with these guys in advanced PE and Kayce has teammates like Xander in there pushing him and that's showing already. We're all expecting — and looking forward to — many more Kayce Jones highlights and celebrations with his teammates.” They’re also excited about what’s to come for him as a leader. He’s still new to it, Friday night’s game at Tecumseh will be the first time he attends the pregame coin toss as a team captain, but he’s got plenty of time to figure that out as well. “He should look around and notice that there aren’t only junior-high kids or JV kids or fifth- and sixth-graders watching him. I think there are a lot of elementary-school kids and even kids like my three-year old daughter who are looking at him,” Pierce said. “She gets excited when everybody else gets excited and most of those plays, especially on defense, are because of Kayce. “I think he’s got to look out at some point and decide what kind of leader he’s going to be.”