Two-way standout Jack Jones a leader for undefeated Tumwater ahead of anticipated rematch with Steilacoom

From almost the moment Jack Jones was aware of what football was, he knew who he would measure his progress in the sport against.

His dad.

Doug Jones had been an outstanding player at Tumwater High School during the mid-1980s. His photograph hangs in the hallway of Tumwater District Stadium. He coached Jack’s youth teams from second grade through middle school, and serves on the on the T-Birds’ staff today.

“My dad and I are very close,” said Jones, Tumwater’s all-around offensive threat and stellar defensive back. “I look up to him, but my goal has always been to be better than him.”

Tumwater coach Bill Beattie was an assistant under Sid Otton when the elder Jones played. The experience gave him a hint of what he would be getting with Jack.

“His dad was really determined, a hardworking guy who understood the game,” Beattie recalled. “I figured Jack would have a lot of those same traits. Right away as a freshman, you could see that he did.”

While comparing success in different eras can be difficult, Jack Jones has made the most of the T-Birds’ COVID-19 pandemic-abbreviated season, which will end Saturday at home with an intriguing rematch with Steilacoom, the team they topped in the Class 2A title game in 2019.

When Tumwater (4-0) opened the season with a rout of Rochester, Jones scored every which way — on a 26-yard run, a 45-yard reception and an 85-yard kickoff return. Against Aberdeen, he scored two touchdowns and picked off a Bobcats pass.

Next came a hastily-scheduled game four hours drive away, against fellow 2A powerhouse Prosser. Jones rushed for 92 yards on nine carries, recorded another touchdown and, defensively, another interception as the T-Birds won, 48-10.

Last week, in a 41-0 rout of W.F. West that clinched another 2A Evergreen Conference championship for Tumwater, Jones kept his scoring streak alive, snagging a 20-yard touchdown pass from Cody Whalen.

Beattie points to Jones’ football knowledge and work ethic as the reasons for his success.

“He’s a very smart football player. He studies the game, he watches film,” Beattie said of the 5-foot-10, 170-pound Jones. “It’s easy to move him to different spots and have him do different things because he has such a good understanding of the game.”

Jones was also one of those athletes who turned the potentially-damaging time away from the game into an advantage.

“You could have come by the school any day of the week throughout the entire pandemic and you would have seen him out on the field working out,” Beattie said. “He took advantage of the time to make himself an even better football player.”

Jones kept the long-ago ending of last season in his mind as he prepared for whatever came next and when it would finally come.

“It goes back to last December (2019) when we won the state title,” he said. “We wanted to get another taste of that.”

Typically a three-sport athlete, without baseball to follow basketball last spring, Jones launched into football preparation.

“It was pretty much every day from March on,” he said. “We’d lift in the mornings, then get some work in on the field later, getting the other guys involved, working as a team. I really wanted to push myself to be the best I could be.”

In recent years, Jones has been a solid contributor, but this season has joined a senior class that has shown leadership in an understated way.

“None of our seniors are big vocal leaders,” Beattie said. “But when they say something it’s meaningful because they do it in a purposeful way. Jack’s not afraid to speak up and the example he sets is undeniable.”

Next fall, Jones expects to be playing in college. He hasn’t committed to a school but likes NCAA Division II Western Colorado, which would play him at cornerback should he sign there.

First, however, comes that rematch with Steilacoom, which fell to the T-Birds, 48-34, in the most recent 2A championship to be decided on the field.

This year’s abbreviated spring season will include no playoffs. Tumwater finishes on Saturday, while Steilacoom still has games against Franklin Pierce and Fife left on its schedule.

Five-star receiver Emeka Egbuka left the Sentinels early in favor of spring football at Ohio State, but quarterback Chance McDonald, a Western Kentucky signee, still leads a loaded Steilacoom roster.

The T-Birds have those blowout wins over strong Prosser and W.F. West teams, while Steilacoom has taken down 3A powerhouse Lincoln and a tough Enumclaw program that joined the 2A South Puget Sound League this season after several years playing in 4A.

“We know Steilacoom’s a good football team. We know we’re a good football team,” Jones said. “I’m sure we both feel we’re the top two teams in the state. So, yeah, we’re going into the game treating it like it’s for a state championship.”