The early part of last November was a moment of surrealness when it came to the Jones County football program.
In a time where in years past the work was centered around prepping for the postseason, the Greyhounds saw breaks at inopportune times cause them not to make the postseason for the first time since 2013.
After an offseason with noses pressed to the grindstone, Jones County is ready to atone for a season ago, work that began a tad earlier than accustomed … the start of the very next week after the end of the regular season.
“We started the process sooner than we usually would, so we took advantage of that time and did a study. We talked about how our margins are so razorthin,” Jones County head football coach Justin Montgomery said. “We could have been 3-7 just as easily as we could have been 9-1 last year. There were six games where one possession could have changed the result, so we talk about the details of the rep, the details of the practice, and the importance of each of those.”
JCHS went 6-4 a season ago, losing to Woodland, Ola, and Eagles Landing by a combined 11 points.
Experience to pay dividends
But this is hardly a team that’s despondent. Rather, the Greyhounds are banking on snaps played last fall on what was a youth-laden roster to pay off largely this fall.
That trend is well-ingrained in the offensive backfield, where Travis Miller and Kaden Canty lead a stable of running backs after combining to rush for nearly 1,000 yards last fall. Between those two, Laquan Pendleton and freshman Daniel Pace, there are ample pieces of which Jones County feels it can run the ball with at a rate of high success.
“Having those guys get some reps, that gave them experience that’s invaluable,” Montgomery said. “That gives them confidence going in, and we have an offensive line that we’re proud of. We want to make sure we utilize them.”
Jones County’s strong belief in its running game indeed extends forward on offense as well, where Alex Hammond anchors the offensive line from the interior. Hammond has drawn interest from colleges, having committed to Charleston Southern.
“We lean on him a ton with his experience and leadership,” Jones County offensive line coach Will Patterson said. “He’s been around the knows what he’s doing. He understands the expectation I have, so when I need to get the line going, he’s the guy I go to.”
Anchoring the outside is Thomas Gosier, whose tall, wide frame helped him command presence on the basketball court as a rebounder, and the Greyhounds will look for him to control the blocking perimeter as well for a unit that is also working Cam Sherman back into the rotation after an injury.
And then there’s Elijah Mack and Barrett Rosenberger. Both had to step up a season ago due to injuries on the Greyhounds front line, being penciled in as starters once a piece. Now, both are in place to take advantage of that valuable on-the-job training.
“I told them last year that a similar thing happened to me in my career as a player. You’re going to take lumps playing varsity, but you have to stick in there and learn from it,” Patterson said. “It helps prepare you. With the experience they have now from starting against some good teams, they won’t be nervous going into that first game.”
Regardless, the gained time on the field for both the Greyhounds’ running backs and offensive line plays well into their offensive agenda.
“That’s our identity; we pride ourselves on being able to run the ball well,” Montgomery said. “Coach (Bradley) Hunnicutt does a really good job of making sure those guys are in situations where we can take care of numbers, angles, and take advantage in the run game.” Taking to the air
But don’t expect the Greyhounds to run the ball every down.
Not with a tight end room with varied skill sets in Drew Williams, Cayden Gilmore, and Luke McCoy.
Look for Gilmore to be lined up in various places within the JCHS offense this fall in a goal to use his six-foot-five frame to his advantage.
“We’ll move him all over the place so he can take advantage of any mismatch,” Montgomery said.
Williams, Hammond and placekicker Jacob Watts were all first-team, all-region selections last year, and Williams is the leading receiver from 2025 in terms of yardage at 160.
At receiver, the job is to replace the production from last year in JR Clark and Nate Vaughn, who combined to haul in nearly 1,000 receiving yards in 2025. Key frontrunners in line to step up include Tripp Jones, Trey’Vonn Allen, and Jayden Richardson. They’ll all be part of a passing game with new quarterback Johnathan Hurley at the controls as he seeks to also use his mobility to extend plays.
Getting defensive
One of the most experienced parts on the defensive side of the ball for Jones County is within the unit’s epicenter as Reid Ford takes on the role of defensive coordinator.
In Hunter Hardwick, Cruz Hasty, Thad Smith, Connor Brock, and Luke McCoy, there are multiple players with plenty of snaps played in addition to having a built-in knowledge of Jones County’s defensive scheme and mindset.
“That’s huge for us. Just with the second level of our defense being able to communicate, it’s huge for us,” Montgomery said. “So having those guys who can understand our system. You have to communicate well, and they work well with our background.”
Up front on defense, the way is led by Aiden Richardson, Zaire Jones, and Machai Bellamy.
Both Jones and Bellamy are in line to help pressure the passer and stymie the opposing run game.
“(Jones) has become a leader for us, we’re excited to see him play,” Montgomery said. “We feel good about him being on the edge and also there’ll be times where we move him around to see if we can get the matchups (we want).”
Experience may be limited in the defensive secondary, but that cannot be replaced by eagerness on a unit led by Rashad Williams, Quay Turner, and Jaiden Bond.
“All of them bring something different, but it all works together. Everyone is growing at a fast rate,” Greyhounds defensive secondary coach Rajaez Mosley said.
Coaches point to Bond as one of the group’s leaders by how he shows up each day on and off the field.
“He came and brought in right away, and he leads by example,” Mosley said. “It’s all about how you go about your work, and he’s come in and is not very vocal, but he does it by how he works. He has really grown.”
All across the roster, the Greyhounds will get to show how much they have grown very early. After opening the season against Valdosta, non-region games against Peach County, Houston County, and Burke County lead right into region play on Sept. 18 and Sept. 25 at Locust Grove and Ola, two teams that beat JCHS last year. The final three games of the season set Jones County up against Perry and Warner Robins.
“It’s about going 1-0 every week,” Montgomery said. “That’s our mission this year.”
