Louie leading by example

Senior defensive lineman improved speed in offseason

By Michael Kinney  
Mustang Times

Louie Jones is looking to have a breakout season. Not just for him, but for the entire Mustang defense.

Coming off last year’s improvement, the 6-foot-1, 290 pound defensive lineman thinks the Broncos are ready to cause damage throughout class 6A-1 and he is ready to inflict his share of it.

“I think everyone’s experienced now,” he said. “Everyone’s getting to learn the plays. We can play faster. When you play faster, you can make more plays.”

Speed has been an important trait in Jones’ gridiron game ever since he first suited up for the Broncos. While he has good size, he is still able to move along the line of scrimmage and disrupts offensive game plans when he is at his best.

However, entering his senior season, Jones says he improved in those areas even more.

“I’ve gotten better,” Jones said. “I have gotten faster, quicker. It allows me to get in the backfield faster and make plays and be able to reach stuff better.”

Coach Waleed Gaines Sr. agrees with Jones’ assessment of his game as well.

“Louis is not a vocal leader. He’s an action leader and things that he does in the field, he just lets it speak for him,” Gaines Sr. said. “I would love to see Louie be a little bit more vocal towards his teammates. But again, he doesn’t have to. You have different styles of leadership and his is just see what I do, do what I do and follow me. And that’s what kind of leader he is.”

Being able to combine his speed and power helps Jones to get past offensive linemen and create havoc in the backfield on unsuspecting quarterbacks. When he reaches a QB and gets a sack, he says there is nothing like it.

“It’s just unexplainable,” Jones said. “It just feels good. I don’t know how to describe that. It just feels like the best feeling in the world.”

After compiling four sacks as a junior, Jones wants to have brought down the quarterback at least eight times by the time his senior campaign comes to an end. He says if he is doing his job, that will make it easier on the rest of his teammates to do theirs.

It’s that attitude that has made Jones one of several players on the Broncos’ defense an embodiment of the style Gaines wants his unit to play with.

“If I was describing this defense, I’d say we swarm, punish and run to the ball,” Jones said. “That’s just what we believe here at Mustang. Coach Gaines interprets that into the program.”