Demarcus Jones doesn’t know all of the circumstances that got him here. Someone might have gotten sick, or injured, or just didn’t want to be there. Whatever happened, he was glad to get the unexpected news.

“I was going to class and coach came up to me and asked if I wanted to go play in the Mississippi-Alabama game,” the Warren Central senior running back said. “I was excited.”

Just like that Jones, Warren Central’s dynamic three-way threat, had gotten a battlefield promotion. The cornerback/running back/kick returner went from playing in the Bernard Blackwell Mississippi all-star game to this Saturday’s Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Game in Montgomery, Ala.

Warren Central head coach Josh Morgan will also participate in the game as an assistant for the Mississippi squad.

The Mississippi-Alabama Game pits the two neighboring states’ best high school senior football players against each other and is considered the more prestigious of the two. For Jones, however, being any kind of all-star seemed good enough.

“It was all right. There’s really no difference,” Jones said. “I’m really excited because you get to play in front of a lot of people not from Mississippi.”

It’s fitting that Jones wants to show off his talent to a new audience. Opponents in Mississippi became well acquainted with how dangerous he could be this season.

Jones was a starting cornerback and running back for the Vikings, also returned kickoffs, and excelled at all three phases.

Jones was a second-team Class 6A All-State selection as a cornerback. He had three interceptions and 26 tackles. He also played running back and, while not the main option for most of the season, was a big-play threat who averaged 11.7 yards per carry.

When Joe Shorter, the Vikings’ primary back, missed 2 ½ games with an ankle injury late in the season, Jones stepped up and rushed for more than 100 yards in three of the last five games. He wound up with an even 1,200 yards to lead the team.

Jones scored 15 rushing touchdowns, had four more receiving, and was second on the team with 19 receptions for 303 yards.

His efforts helped the Vikings finish 10-3 and reach the second round of the Class 6A playoffs, where they lost in overtime to eventual state champion Clinton. Jones had 10 carries for 129 yards in that game.

“It’s just the drive and the motivation, and working hard and being coachable. And God gave me the gifts to do what I can do,” Jones said in explaining his success. “I was satisfied with the season the team had. I just wish we could have played two more games.”

Jones’ versatility helped the Vikings, and he thinks it’ll help Mississippi on Saturday as it tries to win back-to-back interstate all-star games for the first time in more than 20 years. Mississippi won last year’s game, 28-21, to snap a seven-game losing streak in the series. It hasn’t won consecutive games since taking four in a row from 1992-95.

Jones was selected to the all-star team as a defensive back, but said he’s been working with both the defense and offense in practice this week.

“I thought I was going to get a chance to play offense,” he said. “I’ve been going over some of the offensive plays. I think I’m going to get to touch the ball.”

MISSISSIPPI-ALABAMA ALL-STAR GAME
Saturday, Noon, at Montgomery, Ala.
TV: WLBT
Local flavor: Warren Central cornerback/running back Demarcus Jones will play for the Mississippi team in the game’s 30th edition. WC head coach Josh Morgan will be an assistant for the Mississippi squad.