Quarterback leads Stephenville deep into state playoffs

By Jared L. Christopher

Special to the Star-Telegram

The Stephenville football team is on a roll.

Winners of their last 10 games, the Yellow Jackets are led by quarterback Tyler Jones. One only has to look at a few statistics to get a sense of the type of season the senior is having.

With 2,054 passing yards and 22 touchdowns, 800 more yards and 10 more touchdowns than his next closest rival in District 7-3A, Jones sits alone at the top of the statistical charts.

Stephenville coach Joseph Gillespie knows his team can play with anyone right now.

"We feel like we're extremely strong offensively," Gillespie said. "One of the things we feel very confident about, not taking anything away from the opponents that we play, is that I don't know that anyone can come out and stop us consistently series after series after series."

The Yellow Jackets head into this week's Class 3A Division I state quarterfinals after an impressive win against Kennedale, a team that had managed to shut out four of its previous five opponents.

Jones paid little mind to that, shredding the Wildcats' defense for 478 yards and eight touchdown passes en route to a 56-24 win.

"The performance that Jones put up was absolutely awesome," Kennedale coach Richard Barrett said. "We couldn't get any pressure on him. Their offensive line and their scheme was just perfect."

Stephenville dropped from 4A to 3A this season. With 999 students walking the halls, they are second only to Houston Yates in total enrollment figures for all Texas 3A schools.

"They were having lots of success at the 4A level. When I heard they were dropping down I knew they would be near the top of the class come season's end," Barrett said.

Stephenville (10-1) meets Abilene Wylie (12-0) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls.

Wylie is more familiar with Stephenville than most would imagine.

In a nondistrict game in Week 2 of the 2011 season, Stephenville handed Wylie a 42-14 loss.

Wylie did some cruising of its own last week, beating Andrews 56-0. The Bulldogs boast an elite quarterback of their own in Taylor Grant, who has thrown for 2,149 yards and 30 touchdowns, three of which came last week against Andrews.

"The way [Stephenville] is playing right now, whoever they face is going to have their hands full, that's for sure," said Barrett.

All-time state leaders, single-game TD passes

Stephenville's Tyler Jones joined an elite list:

Source: Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine

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