Rider's Kaden Jones making impact in variety of ways
Kaden Jones’ reputation at Rider wasn’t as a football player heading into the 2021 school year.
Jones has always been more of a baseball player and didn’t even go out for football as a freshman. He decided to take the gridiron as a sophomore, enjoying the varsity’s playoff run from the sidelines as a junior varsity call up.
But something incredible has happened over the course of this season, and Jones’ teammates and coaches have seen an athlete develop into a versatile weapon as one of the Raiders’ best players.
There is no doubt Jones’ skills will be on display again when the Raiders (10-1) meet El Paso Andress (9-2) in a Region I-5A Division II area-round playoff game at 6 p.m. Friday in Denver City.
“I enjoy my role on the team and will do anything to help it,” Jones said. “There are great players on this team, and we have great play calling that puts me in the best position. I came into this season just looking to do my part, and they’ve put me in a lot of different roles, so I’m very grateful.”
Jones was slotted to be part of the Raiders’ receiver rotation, while starting at safety on defense. But as the year went on, it became harder to keep Jones off the field on offense.
“His role is FBP – football player,” Rider coach Marc Bindel said. “In whatever way we can get him on the field, he’s going to make us better. We got a lot of guys like that, but Kaden stands out. He can run, he can catch, he can tackle, and he can throw.
“And it’s like his second year to really play football. He’s still got a lot of potential.”
All of Jones’ abilities were utilized in last week’s bi-district playoff win against Carrollton Creekview. He caught a 33-yard TD pass in the first quarter, the returned a kickoff for six in the second.
Jones added to the scoreboard in a third way during the first half, taking the pitch on a reverse and throwing an 18-yard TD pass to Tobias Oliver. On defense, Jones finished with three tackles, with Rider’s starters playing just the first half of the 59-13 win.
Jones’ fingerprints were all over that win.
“I’ve never played quarterback or thrown a pass in a game before,” Jones said. “When I saw Tobias open, I just thought, ‘God, please, please let me make a good throw.’ I got it done.”
Jones has provided Rider with both of its special teams touchdowns this season, returning a punt for a score against Old High and then taking a kickoff back last week. It’s not a role he started with this season, and he doesn’t envision himself as a return specialist. But just like with everything else Jones has done on the field this season, he’s thrived in the position.
“I’m really just trying to catch the ball, but I think both of those returns, I broke a tackle and then there’s just a lot of green in front of me,” Jones said. “I just take off, and my blockers do the rest.”
Jones and the Raiders hope they just started another deep playoff run with last week’s win against Creekview. Andress presents challenges, but this team is feeling confident it has the right chemistry and playmakers to push for a fourth straight appearance in at least the state quarterfinals.
“That senior group ahead of us that just left, they practiced hard, and we practiced against them,” Jones said. “When you play against guys that good every day in practice, you’re just gonna get good too. They made us better.
“Not a lot of people thought we were gonna be this good, but we’ve just kept our nose to the grindstone, worked and showed they were wrong.”
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Rider Raiders junior Kaden Jones versatility on football field
