ELLISVILLE – A quintet of student-athletes who helped the Jones College men’s soccer program make history will continue their careers at four-year schools.
Dalton Morgan (South Jones), Nick Gibson (Sacred Heart), Lucas Middleton (Hemsworth, England), Thomas Carlile (Athgarvan, Ireland) and Glenn Waters (Dungarvan, Ireland) signed senior college letters of intent Wednesday afternoon in the meeting room of the Bobcat Soccer Facility.
Morgan is headed to Belhaven University, Gibson is going to Mississippi College, Middleton signed with Trevecca Nazarene, Carlile is headed to Auburn-Montgomery and Waters signed with William Carey University.
All of these players helped Jones win its first MACJC championship and advance to the NJCAA South District playoffs for the first time in school history.
Bobcat head coach Brendan Connolly was pleased to see these players have a chance to go to the next level.
“It is great to have five players move on to continue their soccer careers at four-year institutions,” he said. “We have nine sophomores this year so to have five move on and play is a job well done for the program. A big part of what we want to do at Jones is sign the best players available to us, continue to develop them while they are here and help them find opportunities to continue their soccer careers after Jones.
“A huge part of this development is the classroom. These five student-athletes are all Academic All-State athletes and have an average GPA of 3.54.”
Jones posted a 14-3-1 record – a single season school record for wins – won the state championship and advanced to the NJCAA Division I playoffs where they fell to No. 4 Tyler (Texas).
Morgan, a forward who had eight goals and two assists in 2018, said Belhaven – an American Southwest Conference school – was an easy choice.
“It was just a homey feel on the campus and with the coaches and the great relationships with them,” he said. “They made it feel like home, almost like when I came to Jones. It’s a DIII school and they’ve had success in the past winning conference titles and I just hope to keep that going and keep building from there.”
Gibson, a defender who was chosen to play in the MACJC All-Star Game, looks forward to playing with the Choctaws – a Division II Gulf South Conference school.
“When I got up there and trained with the guys they were all great and easy to talk to and the coaches were real cool,” he said. “I’m excited to see what we can do these next couple of years.”
Waters, an All-Region 23 midfielder who was chosen to play in the MACJC All-Star Game, hopes to help the Crusaders continue winning.
“William Carey has had some successful years,” he said of the NAIA team that is in the Southern States Athletic Conference. “Last year, they made it to the (NAIA) semifinals. Hopefully, next year we can take it one step further.”
Carlile, an All-Region 23 forward who was chosen to play in the MACJC All-Star Game, said Auburn-Montgomery, another GSC school, has a new head coach (Matthew Thorne) and he thinks brighter days are head. Carlile had 22 goals, 11 assists and 55 points to lead the MACJC and finish fifth in the NJCAA in scoring.
“I chose Auburn-Montgomery because they got a new manager and he’s had a lot of success,” he said. “I believe in him and what he’s going to do the next few years and I want to be a part of that.”
Middleton, a defender who was chosen to play in the MACJC All-Star Game, has been interested in Trevecaa Nazarene for the past two seasons. Trevecca Nazarene is an NCAA Division II school and a member of the Great Midwest Conference. It is located in Nashville, Tennessee.
“They have been keeping an eye on me for the past two years, so it was kind of a mutual agreement that I would be going there after my time at Jones,” he said. “I’m good friends with the coach and it’s a great university with a great soccer program and I look forward to going there.”
All five players said their time at Jones was memorable, especially seeing the program go from a 5-8-1 record in 2017 to a state title this past year.
“It’s been a great experience here and I would not trade it for anything,” Morgan said. “The friendships I’ve made and all the success we had last season – I just would not trade it for anything.”
“It’s been great and I’ve made a lot of new friends here,” Gibson said. “It’s been a really good experience to come in and win with these guys and win the first state championship in school history.”
“I’ve met a cool bunch of friends here for life,” Waters said. “We will always be friends. It was good to win that first state championship this year, especially compared to the first year.
“I’ve had a great time and a great two years here,” Carlile said. “Obviously, last year was not what we expected, but this year after winning the first championship here I felt like we left on a good high.”
“It’s been great,” Middleton said. “Obviously, we had a slow start, but to win that first state title was great.”
Connolly said each of these young men played a major role in the success of the Bobcat soccer team.
“All five lads were a huge part of our success this season in winning our first MACJC title,” he said. “They all provided real quality on the field and leadership off it. Each one was an important contributor to our success and they will be missed.
“We are proud to have them continue to represent Jones as they move on.”
