Jones High pair aims for title, scholarships.
When Quadry Jones and Je’Quan Burton were running up and down the field for the South Central Tigers Pop Warner football team, they both just knew they’d be stars.
What they didn’t know, however, was that they were going to have to prove it. And as the two enter their senior seasons at Orlando’s Jones High, they’re still trying to show they’re worthy of college football scholarships.
This will be the first high school season the two have shared uniforms after Burton transferred from Dr. Phillips last spring, allowing the Quad and Quan Show to hook up once again this fall.
With help from each other, quarterback Jones and wide receiver Burton hope to land more attention from college scouts.
“Me and Je’Quan, we’ve known each other for 10-, 11-plus years,” Jones said. “We really have like a bond. We go over to each other’s [houses]. His mom is basically like my mom. We connect.”
They connected quite well this past weekend at USF’s Sling & Shoot 7-on-7 tournament in Tampa, combining on numerous scoring plays as Jones High made the final four in a 60-team field.
Quadry Jones has already drawn plenty of attention. It’s just that most colleges aren’t willing to take a chance on a 6-foot-tall (on his tip toes), 176-pound (soaking wet) quarterback. He does have a few scholarship offers, with Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) school Tennessee Martin showing the most interest.
Given the impressions he’s made, however, it’s surprising more schools haven’t pulled the trigger on scholarship offers. Numerous college coaches have told me Jones throws one of the best balls in a state full of pass-throwing quarterbacks. Still, they don’t offer.
“I hear [it’s] my height … but I just keep waking up. If they want to offer me, they’ll offer me,” Jones said.
Everybody loves the unassuming, confident kid Jones High coach Elijah
Williams has put in charge of his offense. The quarterback has been in the Williams system since the coach’s and player’s days together at Oak Ridge High, and so Williams figures Jones ought to have the offense figured out by now.
“Quad better be doing that. After you’ve been in the system for two or three years, I better not have to say much, or I ain’t teaching you right,” Williams laughed. “He’s been a great leader, he’s soaking up the information and he can kind of run this stuff himself. … That’s always a plus when [you’ve] got your head guys, your leader, as another coach on the field guiding your guys.”
Even though the scholarship offers haven’t been rolling in, Jones takes it in stride. His attention is spent on getting better and making his teammates better as the Tigers head into a season filled with big-time expectations.
The way Jones sees it, the scholarship offers will come about in the end if he does his job on the field.
“My talent speaks,” Jones said. “Coach Will told us to just try to be the best high school player you can be. Don’t worry about college right now.”
Burton’s lack of scholarship offers is even more baffling, especially after a spring game performance that saw the 5-foot-11, 175-pounder score three touchdowns in the first half against Wekiva. During the spring game, he had a 75-yard touchdown that surprised even those who already knew he was fast. Burton turned on the afterburners and even blew past defensive backs who appeared to have an angle on him.
He’s picked up on the Tigers’ offense since coming over from DP.
“I knew a lot of them already, so when I came here, I just had to learn a new system,” said Burton, who is also a standout basketball player. “It was pretty easy. Coach Will, Quad … they really helped me out.”
The connection between Jones and Burton is obvious on the field.
“We’ve known each other for a long time. … Even when I was at DP and he was at Oak Ridge, we were still working out together,” Burton said. “The connection was always there; we were just never on the same team.
“So now that we’re on the same team, it just clicks.”
It was clicking Sunday in the semifinals of the Sling & Shoot. Burton scored three touchdowns during a loss to Fort Lauderdale Boyd Anderson.
“I don’t think he can step up any more. Every game he does it all for us,” Williams said of Burton. “It’s kinda hard to beat what he’s doing now for us. He makes plays. That’s what he does. … He has no deficiencies as a receiver. The kid just flat out can play.”
And eventually he hopes to prove that to some Football Bowl Subdivision coaches. He has FCS offers — Tennessee Martin, Bethune-Cookman and Southern Illinois — and Burton, like Jones, isn’t worried about it.
“I’m just under the radar. I feel like I’m going unnoticed, but once the season is over, and during the season, they’ll pick up,” Burton said. “Coaches are going to see what I’m about and who I am.
“I’m kinda surprised, but then again, I’m humble. I’m happy for the three offers [I’ve] got and, to be honest, I’m just going to keep ballin’ and the offers are going to come in.”