Kevin Jones wants the smoke.
In fact, Fremont Ross opponents are playing with fire when they try to throw at the senior. More often than not, teams don't bother to throw Jones' way because he's extinguished a receiver from the play with sticky coverage.
Jones took things into his own hands — literally — with two interceptions in a 56-14 victory over Springfield in the Northern Lakes League Cardinal Division. He undercut a post corner route and jumped in front of a receiver, before collecting a lead block on his second touchdown.
"Watching him run the ball back, we might get him on kick return," Ross coach Ken Winters said. "He was a tailback in middle school."
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He went and got the first interception off a long throw in Cover 2. Running the wrong way at first, he looped back and snaked around, leaving the final defender between Jones and the end zone stumbling and flailing.
"Colleges look at your ball skills, at turnovers," he said. "You're setting up field position to score. (The ball in my hands) boosts my confidence."
His mindset when the ball is snapped is far from complicated. The biggest job is preventing big plays, with snuffing out small fires before there's even ignition with a reception another pursuit.
"Play ball and get ball," he said. "Shut people down. I want them to realize they can't get anything over me."
Jones is fast, quick, shifty and strong. He's 6 feet tall. He can play man coverage. He's able to change directions. He can anticipate. He can gamble a bit and take risks on the ball, even decoy receivers to believe they are open, only for Jones to converge and prove otherwise.
"You just know you can do it and get back in time," he said.
He admitted he gets bored when he's avoided completely, but he doesn't know until the play unfolds.
"I do what I can do — don't let any plays up," he said. "Stay locked in no matter what."
Jones also intercepted a pass in a victory over Liberty-Benton. He twice was first-team all-conference. He had one interception as a junior. He wanted to be more of a ball hawk this year. He also wished to attack the run game downhill.
"He's old school," Winters said. "He does what he's told and he works as hard as he can. He's a good kid. Every day he does the same thing."
Matchups with Perrysburg and Toledo Whitmer the last three years were first a trial by fire, and very quickly a gauge to prove Jones can play with anybody across from him. He covers the best receiver for each opponent.
The Little Giants (5-3, 3-0) made a statement as a team against Springfield. Ross travels to Napoleon (2-6, 1-2) for Week 9, with a chance to clinch at least a share of the league championship. Winters insists that the Little Giants remain hungry.
"We're confident trying to win this thing," Jones said. "We have to work — we're ready for that. We're building every day. We have a good team and a good coaching staff. We work no matter what. I appreciate that so much. Everyone. The community."
mhorn@gannett.com
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This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Opponents playing with fire when they throw at Ross' Kevin Jones