FORT SMITH — Fort Smith Northside fell to Rogers Heritage 24-21 on Friday night at Mayo-Thompson Stadium, but Northside wide receiver Shaquille Jones did everything he could to help the Grizzlies.
Jones, 6-0, 175, 4.65 seconds in the 40-yard dash, caught 13 passes for 175 yards to keep the Grizzlies in the game, giving him 34 receptions for 580 yards and 2 touchdowns in four games.
But Jones, under the tutelage of receivers coach Billy Joe Releford, said he isn't satisfied with his play to this point.
"I can be better," Jones said. "I don't want to be as good as I can be right now, I want to continue to progress over the years."
The Grizzlies almost won the game despite turnovers and penalties at the most inopportune times.
"We had some mental mistakes and kind of got down on ourselves which hurt us a little bit," Jones said. "The penalties and turnovers late, late in the game kind of hurt us real bad."
Releford, who grew up and played in Fort Smith, said Jones ranks among the best Fort Smith has produced.
"I knew last year when he was in the ninth grade he was going to be something special," Releford said. "He has lived up to everything I thought that he would be at this point."
Releford said Jones' worth ethic is almost equal to his talent.
"He's dedicated," Releford said. "He can be big time. The sky is the limit for him if he continues to work hard.He has a great attitude. He's a great kid to coach, I enjoy working with him."
Jones said it's important for Northside (2-2) to maintain a good attitude despite its early losses to Rogers Heritage and Catholic.
"We have got a lot of games left," Jones said. "We can't let this one get us down."
Jones said he tries to pattern himself after former Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree.
"He's an amazing receiver," Jones said. "I watched every game he played. I actually studied Michael Crabtree, he's my favorite receiver. I also love Santana Moss."
Jones said he knows he has a long way to go to reach the level of a Crabtree or Moss.
"My strengths are catching the deep ball and catching in traffic," Jones said. "Those are my strengths. I need to perfect my routes, that's not the worst thing I have, but my goal is to perfect my routes. My routes have to be crisp.I may not be the fastest person on the field, but if you go out and run a good route and catch the ball you can be a good receiver."
Jones said he is looking at Fayetteville when considering college.
"Arkansas, I love the Razorbacks," Jones said. "I'm a big Arkansas fan."
Jones said Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett has caught his eye.
"I love his QB vision," Jones said. "He sees the receivers, go through his reads and is real calm in the pocket. When the pocket collapses, he's real calm and that's something not a lot of quarterbacks have."
Jones said he is also impressed with the receivers Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino has assembled in the short time he has been at Arkansas, Greg Childs in particular.
"He's an amazing receiver," Jones said. "He makes great catches and keeps his composure. That's what I like about him."
Sports, Pages 31 on 09/27/2009