Superman Strikes

Jones MVP journey one for the books

By Stefan Cooper
Editor
Blount Press Row

To fully appreciate what Micah Jones accomplished at the state championship game in Chattanooga, you have to go back a few years.

So we did.

In the here and now, Jones ran for 120 yards and four touchdowns on offense, tied linebacker Darius Sudderth for the team lead with seven tackles on defense, and Alcoa rolled to a TSSAA record-extending 11th consecutive state championship with a 47-27 win over Pearl Cohn in the Class 4A BlueCross Bowl at Finley Stadium.

The championship was a record-extending 24th for the Tornadoes (14-1) overall.

Statistics for the BlueCross Bowl can be found here.

Several Tornadoes delivered memorable performances in turning back the Firebirds, but the afternoon Jones visited upon Pearl Cohn, resulting in the Alcoa junior being named the championship game’s most valuable player, is by far the most compelling, so we’ll tackle that first.

The annual Alcoa Middle/Maryville Junior High gridiron clash from year to year is every bit as drama-filled as its high school counterpart. Three years ago, the junior high Rebels came away victors in a thriller that went down to the final play. Four players — Maryville quarterback Will Jones and receiver Thomas Manu and Alcoa quarterback Micah Jones and running back Amauri DuBose — impressed us as can’t-miss stars of the future.

For subscribers, you can watch some video of the game at “The Fantastic 4s.”

Will Jones showcased as a red-alert talent the year before — as a seventh-grader. The arm, the intellect for the game, it was easy plotting his trajectory at the high school level. He might play as a freshman, we thought, as proved the case. Manu was a terrific athlete on the outside, a real playmaker, but there was much more to the story as we would soon learn.

DuBose knocked us. Playing with a cast on one arm, the quick-cutting back ran with a ferocity that grabbed your attention and kept it. His jukes were fabulous. Then, there was Micah.

We knew Will Jones had a fierce right arm. Micah Jones, in his first season as the starter, was new to us. It wasn’t long before he displayed the ability to spin the ball with every bit the velocity as his Maryville rival.

He also excelled when it came to tucking the ball under his arm and taking off, best evidenced on a conversion run we won’t soon forget.

When Will and Micah got to high school, they were sure to produce one of the great quarterback battles in the history of the series. What a show that was going to be. There was just one thing: Manu.

The junior high Rebels had more than a budding receiving star. Manu, who’d moved to Blount County from California that year, was a quarterback, the kind that blows you away when you watch him throw. No way he spends four years as a backup.

Maryville High coach Derek Hunt soon had a decision to make we sure didn’t envy. For the Alcoa game during a fateful freshman season, Jones got the start.

He delivered, directing the Rebels to the win at Alcoa’s Goddard Field. Jones kept on the option late, setting up a Hudson Jamerson walk-off field goal as time expired.

The following summer, Manu transferred to Alcoa.

It was now Alcoa coach Brian Nix who had a tough decision to make: Manu or Micah Jones at quarterback when starter Eli Graf eventually moved on?

By fall, the job as Graf’s backup was Manu’s.

If you’re Micah Jones, what do you do?

Answer: Grab the cape and really give ‘em a show.

Pearl Cohn took the ball first in the title tilt, its offense quickly retired to the sideline by the Alcoa defense. On the Tornadoes’ first play from scrimmage, Jones sliced through a hole off right tackle and ran 45 yards to the end zone.

“More powerful than a locomotive.

“Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.”

Jones would go on to run for three additional scores of 8, 18 and 1 yards, doubling a two-touchdown performance in the previous year’s championship game. It’s been that way each of the last two seasons, as the do-it-all star has delivered, time and again, for the Tornadoes — in the biggest games.

Manu as the Tornado quarterback has proven a rousing success as well. His first season as the starter saw the junior named one of three finalists for the state’s Mr. Football award.

In the championship game, Manu completed a blistering 12 of his 15 passes for 179 yards and an 18-yard touchdown toss to senior JaColby Cooper. For the season, Manu’s statistics were staggering: 184 of 229 passing (80.3 completion percentage!), for 3,099 yards and 45 touchdowns. He had two picks.

And the other guy won Mr. Football?

Senior linebacker Cade Stinnett returned a Pearl Cohn fumble 3 yards for another Alcoa score, with DuBose returning a Firebirds’ kickoff 88 yards late in the opening quarter for the other.

Headlining it all was Jones. The championship game most valuable player award may have never had a more fitting recipient.