Bridger Jones: A Leader both On and Off the Field
If you were to look at the current state of high school football in the state of Georgia, it’ll be hard to find a student-athlete that has a bigger impact for his team and community both on and off the field than Columbus High School’s Bridger Jones. A standout kicker for the Blue Devils in each of the last four seasons, Jones has turned in a phenomenal high school career at Columbus providing different impacts in many different areas.
Looking back at the last three season’s alone, Jones has seen time with the Blue Devils dating back to his freshman season where he made 13-of-14 extra points, as well as serving as the Blue Devils punter. After another strong season as a sophomore, Jones began to emerge as one of the top overall kickers in the state of Georgia.
Jones would arguably take the next-step as a kicker during the 2020 season as a junior where he served as the Blue Devils primary kicker and punter appearing in a total of 10 games. As a junior, Jones would make 34-of-36 extra point attempts, as well as making 3-of-6 field goals with the longest kick coming from 43 yards, the farthest made-kick of Jones’ high school career up to that point.
After an impressive junior season, Jones would go-on to attend a Kohl’s Showcase Camp
in May of 2021, his first rankings camp for one of the top recruiting websites for kickers across the country. Jones would excel at this camp grading out at a 4.5 star level by hitting multiple 70+ yard kickoffs, as well as grading out as a Top 65 kicker cementing the Columbus standout as one of the fastest-rising kickers in the country.
Now a senior, Jones entered what was an exciting 2021 season for one of the state’s top kickers, and sure did deliver on the hype with his on-field play.
Appearing in all 10 of the Blue Devils games during the 2021 season, Jones would go-on to make 37-of-37 extra points and 6-of-7 field goals, even eclipsing his previous career-high with a 47-yard field goal. Seeing time on kickoffs and punts as he had in years past, Jones also saw time as a receiver for the Blue Devils this season catching a total of 10 passes for 331 yards and four touchdowns.
Putting the finishing touches on what was a special high school career on the field, Jones finished his time at Columbus by making 94-of-100 career extra points, as well as 11-of-19 field goals. Jones would also post 105 total kickoffs with 75 resulting in touchbacks, as well as making 76 punts with 21 being downed inside the 20-yard line.
As mentioned at the start however, Jones is not-only a leader on the field, but off the field as well. An AP scholar, Jones displays a phenomenal 4.7 GPA in the classroom, and is also a member of various different honor societies and clubs such as a volunteer wildlife leader and the organizer and leader of a Bible study at Columbus.
With a dream to eventually kick in college, Jones has set himself up to achieve those dreams within the next year due to a phenomenal work ethic both on and off the field, combined with a phenomenal high school career at Columbus. Wherever Jones ends up in college, there is no-denying that Jones has surely turned in an impactful high school career with the Blue Devils.
Written by: Matt Melton
Read more from this issue:
