As much as Byron Jones was involved in every aspect of a football game for Bay City – from returning kicks to running the ball as a tailback – it was his lack of involvement on defense that ultimately led to his signing a letter-of-intent to play college football at Texas A&M.

After all, Jones created his own black hole for the Black Cats, as receivers drifted into his area of the field when he was playing cornerback, only to walk back to the huddle empty-handed.

The final tally in 16 games? Just nine passes were thrown in the direction of Jones.

In the simplest of terms, that is playing like a true cover corner.

"He has incredible flexibility in his hips, and he has the ability to hold wide receivers at the line of scrimmage," said coach Chad Morris. "He’s a physical player. He’s a the type of kid who’s real similar to Kevin Smith, and he’s actually a little bigger than Kevin Smith."

Of course, Smith was an All-American at A&M and an All-Pro for the Dallas Cowboys. Whether or not Jones can live up to Smith’s maroon legacy won’t be known for four or five years, but his high school career was just as impressive as Smith’s.

The 5-10, 180-pound Jones rushed for over 1,000 yards in two straight seasons as a Bay City ball carrier, and was used on all special teams, as well.

And during his senior year, he was hobbled with a sore knee from a basketball injury in the summer and later by a high ankle sprain that sidelined him for two games. But the summer injury didn’t scare off Aggie recruiter Alan Weddell, who used A&M’s ties to secure Jones and fellow A&M signee John Roberson.

"It’s where you find out about them," Weddell said of the excruciating recruiting process. "A good friend of mine tipped me off on them and said these guys can play D-I football. So I got a big lead, knowing (former Bay City coach) Warren Trahan being an Aggie would help us there and Chad Morris being an Aggie."

Once Jones became healthy, he was a major reason why Bay City soared to the Class 4A Division II state championship.

"He came in as the No. 15-ranked DB in the nation," Morris said. "There was a lot of hype for Byron, and he came in the year and had some injuries. He banged his knee up a little bit in the summer playing basketball. "The kid started off the year playing tailback, returning all kicks for us and playing defensive back. It was wearing him down, and once we pulled him and made him a straight cornerback and let him concentrate on that, that’s when he really showed us what he had. He had an outstanding run in through the playoffs."

Jones is also a basketball player and a sprinter for the Bay City track team. But his ticket to stardom in Aggieland will go the way of cornerback.

And the maroon-blooded Morris couldn’t be more pleased that Jones and Roberson will be running onto Kyle Field this fall.

"I’m tickled to death to send them there," Morris said. "I tried to talk to them from the standpoint of not being an Aggie and trying to let them think this whole process through. In the end, they asked me, "What do you think?" I told them, ‘Fellas, you don’t realize what you’re going to have when you get out of there.’

"They’re hooked. We had to postpone signing (the letters-of-intent) because they had to run out to Wal-Mart to buy an A&M cap to wear for pictures. It was pretty neat."

– Homer Jacobs