Change of plans suits Jones, South Lakes

Entering this season, Rashaan Jones had plans of building on his successful junior campaign from the wide receiver position. Boy, was he wrong.

Three days before preseason camp, South Lakes Coach Marvin Wooten moved Jones from wide receiver to quarterback after the projected starter suddenly moved to Canada. Then, a few weeks ago, Wooten added another role to the playmaker’s plate – defensive back.

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But for all the shifting that Jones has done this fall, he couldn’t be happier with where he’s ended up.

“I was fine with moving to quarterback because I’ve always been about what’s best for the team,” Jones said. “I was really excited to play defense; that’s the best part of football for me. There’s nothing better than making a big hit.”

The fruits of Jones’s sacrifice were on full display Friday when the senior totaled seven touchdowns in a 53-0 win against Marshall, as the Seahawks (3-6) snapped a three-game losing streak. Jones passed for 170 yards and three scores, rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns and returned one of his two interceptions for another score.

“I’ve seen some pretty dominating performance but never like that, where a player dominated all phases of the game,” Wooten said of Jones, who is a two-time All-Met in track. “Rashaan is one of the best athletes I’ve coached and it’s nice to see him blow up like he did.”

Believe it or not, though, Jones believes his big night can be topped. Only, it wouldn’t necessarily involve more trips to the end zone or better stats.

“There’s always room for improvement but I don’t really care what I do next week; I just want to get another win,” Jones said. “I have the most fun when we win, and with next week being senior night, I hope we can close things out right.”

Potomac (Va.) pulls off an upset

As is their custom, the Potomac (Va.) football players reviewed film of their upcoming opponent after school Friday before heading off for their game.

This week, though, the coaches showed a double feature.

Not only did the Panthers bone up on Hylton before boarding the bus, they watched footage from the game in 2000 when Potomac went to Hylton and snapped the Bulldogs’ 39-game winning streak.

The stakes were not quite so high this time, but the Panthers pulled out a 27-21 overtime victory to take over sole possession of first place in the Virginia AAA Cardinal District. Hylton had won 17 consecutive Cardinal games.

“Coach [Jerry] Roadcap showed us how big the crowd was [in 2000] and how it wrapped around the track,” said junior running back Torrey Dixon, who scored the overtime touchdown on a third-down run. “It was inspirational.”

Potomac defensive coordinator Keith King was the Panthers’ head coach in 2000 when the Panthers beat the Bulldogs at Hylton in front of an estimated 10,500. Hylton’s 39-game winning streak at the time was one shy of tying the state record. But Potomac also was unbeaten at the time of the teams’ regular season finales.

“We were saying that it would be a similar game,” Potomac All-Met lineman Donta Wilkins said. “A lot of people, both games for the district championship, both teams doing pretty good toward the end of the season. It motivated us to beat them.”