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GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 35 4.47Markell Jones' 40-yard dash time, he says, after shaving nearly two- tenths off the time before his senior season. 126 Career touchdowns by Jones, 15 short of the state record held by Brett Law (Sheridan, 1986- 89). Jones had 60 as a senior, six short of tying Law's 1988 single-season record. 3,536 Yards Jones rushed during his senior season, an Indiana record, besting New Haven's Cory Jacquay in 2001. The Numbers Tim Sorrells jump on his classmates — fellow run- ning back signees Richie Worship and Tario Fuller join in the fall — and allow him to share spring repetitions with holdovers like Keyante Green and D.J. Knox. Jones has as good a résumé as any, perhaps better. The 5-foot-11, 205-pounder rushed for nearly 7,800 yards in three seasons as the Olympi- ans' starting running back, with more than 120 touchdowns. As a senior, he rushed for more than 290 yards in six games — Columbus East finished the year 13-1, losing in the semi-state a year after winning the Class 4A state championship — and in six outings he had at least five touch- downs. "It's almost like video game stats," Purdue running backs coach Jafar Wil- liams said on signing day. "It was al- most unreal what this guy was doing." But those kinds of performances led often to second-half runaways, sending Jones to have an early view from the bench. "Turned into a cheerleader," he said. "I didn't get an opportunity to play as much because of the competition and how good we were. But throughout the week in practices, I was busting my (butt) 100 percent. Only to play for a quarter or a half, that kind of stunk, but as we got into the tournament, I got to play a little bit longer." Jones wants to play every down pos- sible at Purdue, and soon. The Boiler- makers are looking for replacements to top backs Akeem Hunt and Raheem Mostert, who combined to rush for more than 1,500 yards and nine touchdowns last season. The rookie can't replicate the speed of the graduating duo, but he might be able to make up for that in in- stincts and vision. He showed both at a young age. Jones was in sixth grade when he first started football, moving over to the gridiron from soccer, but he wasn't al- lowed then to possess the ball. Because he exceeded the league's weight limits for skill positions — Jones wasn't over- weight but was physically big for his age — he was forced to play on the line or at linebacker. Yet, it was still evident then that young Markell had ability; he need- ed only a chance to better showcase it. That came during an all-star game the next summer, when his Columbus team took on one from Kokomo, the latter of which played without weight parameters. So his coaches put Jones deep to return the opening kick. "He was standing at the 15 or 20 and they kicked it over his head, went to- ward the 5," Jym Jones said. "I thought 'Oh my, this is going to be a disaster.' "But he picked it up on the 10 and made a couple moves, followed his blockers and went down the sideline for a 90-yard touchdown. It was the ON THE GROUND, IN THE AIR Along with picking up ground yardage, Markell Jones has his sights set in the air. The Columbus, Ind., native wants to be a pilot, just like his dad. And he found that oppor- tunity, along with a chance to play football, at Purdue, which boosts the country's fifth-best aerospace program, according to U.S. News & World Report. Jones, a professional flight technology major, had been in an airplane plenty growing up, observing his dad, Jym, a cor- porate pilot at the controls. But Markell had never had control of a plane himself until his third day of classes at Purdue. "Easily the best fit for me," Markell Jones said, a few hours after practicing landings at the Purdue Airport in early February. "I don't know where else I'd be if I wasn't at Purdue. I don't know what I'd be study- ing, because it's really the only field I have interest in. … I'm enjoying life so much, it's per- fect." — Kyle Charters