BLOUNT COUNTY ― Instinct kept Will Jones from a flawless performance.
Had the Maryville football quarterback held on for 11 more minutes, he would've finished with a perfect completion percentage.
Unfortunately, on Maryville's last touchdown drive, Jones was flushed out of the pocket. Instead of taking a sack, he threw the ball out of bounds. The next play, he flung his sixth touchdown of the night in the Rebels' 45-20 home victory over Hardin Valley on Sept. 25.
Jones ended up completing 95% of his passes -- 21 of 22 -- for 349 yards and six touchdowns.
"Will Jones doing Will Jones things," Maryville coach Kenny Cobble told Knox News. "He's kind of a cheat code. We're glad he's a Rebel."
high school football season
Jones didn't know until he returned to the sideline that he threw his only incompletion. His performance was more than enough to push Maryville (5-1 overall, 4-0 Region 2-6A) over Hardin Valley (4-2, 1-2).
The incompletion is the one small blemish on what the Jacksonville State commit "definitely" believed was his best night of high school football.
"Tonight, it was just flowing," he said. "It came easy. We have a lot of playmakers that make plays for me, so it makes my job a lot easier. ... We were clicking on all cylinders."
Maryville nearly had three pass catchers cross the 100-yard mark. Ethan Farhat led with five catches for 147 yards and a touchdown; Rhys Gardner snagged six for 89 yards and two touchdowns; and Colton Foust ended with 91 yards and three touchdowns on seven catches.
"Will was on one tonight," Foust said. "He had a great game tonight to lead the team. We made it easy on him and he made the right plays and right throws to make it easy on the receivers."
Cobble praised Jones ― who also had 62 rushing yards on three carries ― for the variety in his execution.
"The thing about it is he did it in so many different ways," Cobble said. "He did it form the pocket, he did it from escapes, he did it rolling out, he did it with his feet. He had the whole package out tonight."
Maryville is the only team in Region 2-6A without a region loss. The Rebels are in prime position to claim the top spot again if Jones continues to paint more masterpieces.
Foust sees no reason his quarterback would slow down.
"This is definitely one of them," he said about Jones' best career performances. "But, he plays like that every week."
Wynton Jackson covers high school sports for Knox News. Email: wynton.jackson@knoxnews.com
Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks: knoxnews.com/subscribe
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Maryville football QB Will Jones 'definitely' had best game of his career
