How a surging sophomore QB came to lead Cardinal Gibbons football to a state semifinal

Gannon Jones says his inspiration to play quarterback stemmed from Robert Griffin III’s dynamic play. From a young age, the Cardinal Gibbons High sophomore watched games with his father, Kevin, and older brother, Gavin.

Wait a minute. Isn’t Jones too young to have Griffin for a favorite player?

He was only 4 years old when Griffin won the 2011 Heisman Trophy and 5 when Griffin was the NFL’s 2012 NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year. And then Griffin was gone, quickly fading from the scene due to knee injuries.

“That’s my first football memory — his rookie year,” Jones said. “I learned about the Heisman later. My dad is a big football fan and watching games with him established my love for football.”

Stepping into the spotlight

The football he absorbed was enough to arrive at Cardinal Gibbons with preternatural awareness as a sophomore. When senior starter Whitt Newbauer, who is committed to Mercer University, suffered a finger injury on his throwing hand in the first half of a midseason game against Hillside, Jones stepped up without flinching.

He finished the Hillside contest, a 24-6 win on a rainy night, and is unbeaten in nine games as a starter — five to finish the regular season and four in the playoffs.

“Gannon has far exceeded our expectations, especially as a sophomore,” said Gibbons head coach Steven Wright. “He has tremendous composure.”

The Crusaders (12-2) have advanced to the NCHSAA 4A East Region final with last week’s 28-21 upset of No. 1 seed Rolesville. Gibbons faces Hoggard at 7 p.m. Friday at the Wilmington school’s field. The Crusaders entered the playoffs as the No. 5 seed and Hoggard No. 3, but the latest state 4A rankings jumped Gibbons from No. 7 to No. 2 and Hoggard from No. 5 to No. 3.

Against Rolesville, Gibbons rallied with three fourth-quarter touchdowns. Jones, a 5-foot-10, 165-pounder, finished the night 18-of-31 passing for 297 yards with a touchdown passing and two rushing.

In a quarterback-centric universe, Jones received the credit, but he saw the result from another view, especially considering the Crusaders’ defense held Rolesville to three touchdowns. In the regular season, Rolesville beat Gibbons 52-32.

“Our offense started out hot, but we only scored once,” said Jones of the 7-7 halftime score. “After that we were having trouble moving the ball, but our defense kept getting stops. They motivated the offense, and we were able to flip the script in the final five minutes.”

There’s his awareness again.

“He’s aware of what’s going on around him and locked into what we’re trying to do schematically,” Wright said. “He has the intuition to scramble or stay in the pocket. He has the intangibles and the superior arm strength as a natural thrower of the ball.”

A winding path

But the sophomore’s rise to starter was an unlikely path. Gibbons has been bathed in quarterback luxury in the past four-year stretch, so explaining Jones’ ascendance takes some sorting out the names and seasons. Follow closely.

In the 2020 season (played in the spring of 2021), Gannon’s older brother Gavin Jones and Newbauer arrived together as freshmen. Gavin was the JV QB and Newbauer the freshman team QB.

In 2021, junior Connor Clark was the varsity starter on the Crusaders’ 4A state title team. Gavin was the sophomore varsity backup and Newbauer the sophomore JV QB.

In 2022, Gavin transferred as a junior to Green Level, the family’s neighborhood school, where he was the starter in 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, back at Gibbons, Newbauer, a junior, beat out Clark, a senior, for the starting varsity job. In that same 2022 season, Gannon Jones and Aiden Smalls arrived as freshmen. Smalls was the JV QB and varsity backup (the eight-quarter rule allows JV starters to dress with the varsity) and Gannon the freshmen team QB.

In 2023, Newbauer began his senior season as a second-year starter but instead of Smalls playing a varsity backup role, Wright wanted the sophomore’s athleticism on the field. Smalls is a starting wide receiver, leading the team with 76 catches 941 yards and 12 touchdowns, but he’s also used as a situational QB. Gannon began his sophomore year as the JV quarterback and varsity backup with the eight-quarter rule. Until Newbauer was injured, that is.

Jones credits Newbauer for helping him step into the role.

“He’s been supportive the whole time,” he said. “He helps me out and asks me what I saw on the field. He’s been an awesome teammate.”

Reaching the regional final

The first of Gibbons’ three fourth-quarter comeback touchdowns tied the game at 14-14 with 5:13 to play. Senior receiver Chet Yardley, despite a nice defensive play on Jones’ pass, pulled in the tipped ball near the sideline for a 63-yard catch-and-run to the end zone.

But Gibbons was soon trailing again, 21-14. This time Jones drove the Crusaders 70 yards in seven plays. He completed passes of 15 (with a 15-yard late hit added on), 18 and 6 and scrambled for 5 yards. From the 11, Jones took the snap and handed the ball to Smalls, who rolled right and then passed to Nic Leonard in the end zone with 2:34 to play.

“That was a trick play,” said Jones, noting he wears No. 12 and Smalls No. 2. “Everybody gets us confused because we both have a 2 in our jersey, but he threw that pass.”

The Crusaders, using all three timeouts, got the ball back when the defense stopped a fourth-and-3 run play at Gibbons’ 45 with 2:03 remaining.

Jones drove the Crusaders 55 yards in three plays, starting with a 29-yard completion to Smalls and then a 17-yarder to Yardley to the 9. On the next play, Jones rolled left untouched into the end zone for the game-winning score with 1:21 on the clock.

“We overloaded the right side,” Jones said. “I faked a screen pass that way, flipped my hips and rolled left. Our right tackle, Connor Doeren pulled to the left and threw a great block. He’s NC State coach Dave Doeren’s son.”

There was Jones’ awareness again — adding biographical information to a teammate’s contribution. He sounded as if he could follow Griffin’s path from the playing field to his current role in the booth as an ESPN TV analyst.