All-Metro Football Offensive Player of the Year: Cyrus Jones Jr., Gilman, athlete, senior
December 10, 2011
Cyrus Jones Jr.
Gilman, athlete, senior
This fall, Calvert Hall coach Donald Davis referred to Jones simply as "that kid who wears No. 5 who haunts me at night."
With good reason. Jones, rated the No. 33 senior recruit in the nation by ESPNU, had two of his best games in leading the No. 1 Greyhounds (10-1) over the No. 2 Cardinals.
During the regular season, he returned a punt 97 yards with three minutes to go to seal a 28-21 win. Then in the first Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship game, Jones scored all of his team's points in two overtime periods ? two touchdowns and the decisive conversion run ? for a 34-32 victory.
"He has the ability to take over a game," Davis said. "When that group needs it, he can will them into the end zone. Picking up that punt inside the 5, stuff like that that you're not supposed to do, and making it happen. He's a kid that has a tremendous sense of when they need a big play and he finds a way to make it."
The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Jones, the Gatorade Maryland Player of the Year, played five positions: wide receiver, running back, cornerback, Wildcat quarterback and returner.
He totaled 2,365 yards and scored 24 touchdowns. He rushed 109times for 948 yards and 13 touchdowns, caught 39 passes for 635yards and six touchdowns, gained 354 yards on kickoff returns and had 428 yards on punt returns. At cornerback, he had five interceptions and returned one for a touchdown.
"He's the best player I've ever coached," Gilman coach Biff Poggi said. "He's a great team player. He's highly competitive. He has ridiculous skills. But he also is a football guy. He's also highly intelligent. I think putting all that together, he plays five positions and he is able to learn them all and master them all."
An All-Metro first-team cornerback last season, Jones will play in the Under Armour All-America Football Game Jan. 5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. He also plans to play in the Chesapeake Bowl.
He received more than 40 college scholarship offers and has narrowed his list to Alabama, Auburn, Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Maryland. Jones said he plans to announce his decision after the holidays.
