Still performing like champions

Edmondson seniors move on, making their way in college

By Kevin Van Valkenburg | Sun reporter

December 30, 2007

Edmondson football coach Dante Jones said his 2006 team, which won a state title, has become an inspiration to youngsters around the city. (Sun photo by AndrÃ© F. Chung / December 12, 2007)

It's a quiet, uneventful afternoon at Edmondson-Westside High, except for one thing. Dante Jones' cell phone won't stop ringing. And ringing.

And ringing.

Every few minutes, Jones - the football coach at Edmondson and a physical education teacher - apologizes because he has been interrupted in mid-sentence or mid-thought yet again. When it isn't his cell phone, it's his office phone.

Sometimes it's his wife or another coach, but mostly it's current or former players. Even when he turns his phones to silent, someone ends up ducking his head into his office, hoping Jones will have a few words of encouragement, reassurance or guidance. Rarely is his world still for more than a few minutes.

It has been a year since Edmondson won its first state championship in football, a victory over McDonough that, for Jones and the Edmondson-Westside community, had a meaning beyond sports. It was a journey that highlighted Jones' mission to keep his teenage players from being swallowed up by the temptations of the drug game, as well as to steer many of them away from violence and poverty and toward a college education.

That memorable season and the team's run to the state title was chronicled by The Sun in a five-part series, "The Big Game."

The four captains on the 2006 team - Sterling Jones, Kyle Jackson, Tariq Jones and Dionta Cox, whose lives and families were the focus of the series - are still in college and performing well academically.

Every one of the 20 seniors on the 2006 football team graduated from Edmondson and enrolled in college this fall, an impressive number for a school that sends only 35 percent of its students to a four-year college, according to the Maryland State Report Card.

"I still feel the impact of all of it," said Dante Jones, still easily recognizable for his soft, firm voice and shoulder-length dreadlocks. "It inspired our kids, but it also inspired kids around the city. A lot of people understand now that it was about more than just football."

Jones said winning a state title and the attention the school received made a tangible difference, too. College recruiters who were reluctant to offer scholarships to Edmondson players for fear they couldn't handle the academic requirements are showing more interest, Jones said. Nick Speller, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound senior offensive lineman, recently received a scholarship offer from Syracuse.

"Coaches come talk to me now and they say, 'You have pretty good academics, too,' " Jones said. "It's about our children and our future. [It] gave me a chance to talk to people I wouldn't have been able to talk to otherwise. It had a tremendous impact."

Edmondson did not quite repeat the success it had on the field in 2006, losing this season in the Class 2A quarterfinals to Eastern Tech, but Jones already feels that next year's team, if it continues to mature, could be poised to make another title run.

On to college

Three of the captains on the 2006 championship team, Sterling Jones, Tariq Jones and Jackson, were members of the Bowie State football team and live in the same campus dorm, while Cox, Dante Jones' nephew, was a member of the football team at St. Augustine College in North Carolina. Each took time away this month from studying for finals to reflect on how their lives have changed in the past year.

For Jackson - the shy, imposing linebacker from a middle-class, two-parent home who dreamed in high school of owning his own business - football success came quickly at Bowie State. He started eight games at middle linebacker, finished second on the team in tackles and was named to the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association all-rookie team.

Jackson, who was so focused on earning a scholarship his senior year he broke up with his girlfriend to avoid distractions, said the transition to college life was a challenge, but a smooth one.

"In high school, you've constantly got your coaches and your teacher on your back, making sure you get your work done," Jackson said. "In college, you've got a lot of time on your hands, and you have to keep up with your own work. But it's easier than I thought it would be. I always had good study habits, and I always worked hard in the classroom, so it wasn't a hard adjustment."

For Sterling Jones - the vocal, emotional, charismatic strong safety who grew up in one of the city's more dangerous neighborhoods and dreamed of making his mother, a single parent, proud - it was a year of learning patience. Occasionally hot-headed and easily frustrated, Jones learned to wait his turn on the football field. He started a handful of games, but also humbled himself and tried to help the squad on special teams.

"I went through a stage when I wanted to stop playing football," Jones said. "I was so stressed because I didn't know why I wasn't starting. But [the coaches] just had to grow and feel they could trust me, and once they started trusting me, I started playing more. I've grown a lot."

Making his mark

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