Eric, Jared, Warner II, Ebony starred at HHS
By: Rudy Brandl
Jemmie Jones never wanted her oldest son Eric to play football as a youngster. Some 20 years later, the mother of four standout athletes who have graduated from Hillsborough High School is happy she finally gave in.
She and her husband, Warner I, never dreamed their four children would become such a huge part of the HHS athletic landscape. Eric, Jared, Warner II and Ebony have accumulated 43 varsity letters to compile a family athletic resume that ranks as the finest in school history. Now that all four Jones siblings have passed through the high school, Mom and Dad can’t believe it’s over.
"It hasn’t really sunk in yet," Warner I said. "I’m really going to miss it. I know it’s going to be a real big void."
HHS football, basketball and track and field fans surely will feel the same. The Jones family has played an integral part in many of the school’s great athletic moments in the last 16 years.
Eric made his debut as a freshman starting quarterback in 1991 and enjoyed four great years of football and basketball and three as a track and field athlete to amass 11 varsity letters. Jared followed in his big brother’s footsteps by making the varsity football team as a freshman while also excelling in basketball and track and field for four years. Jared is the only member of the family to achieve the maximum 12 varsity letters.
After a two-year hiatus from Jones stars, younger siblings Warner II and Ebony entered the high school and slowly worked their way up the ranks. Warner II followed his brothers as a four-year football letterman and also competed in basketball, indoor track and outdoor track and field. Ebony starred in basketball and track and field and ran cross country to stay in shape. Warner II and Ebony recently graduated with 10 varsity letters apiece.
It all started when Eric finally convinced his mother to let him sign up for the Hillsborough Dukes Pop Warner football team. Jemmie wasn’t crazy about the idea and it took some time to get used to watching her boys play football.
"I didn’t know too much about football when I came to Hillsborough," said Jemmie, who was a cheerleader at Calhoun High in Alabama. "I remember Eric telling me it was the last day to register and I couldn’t think of any way to lie or postpone it. He wanted to play two or three years before we let him play. Then, one thing led to another and he started playing. I was worried about him being hurt all the time. After the first time he played, I never sat in the bleachers again. I stood by the fence for every game. I was just too nervous."
Warner I, a standout basketball and baseball player at Snow Hill Institute in Snow Hill, Ala., in the late 1960s, was beaming with pride watching his oldest son play quarterback as a freshman. Eric rallied the Raiders down the field for a touchdown in the closing moments but a missed 2-point conversion resulted in a tough 7-6 loss to Hunterdon Central.
"I’ll never forget it," Warner I said. "That game was nip and tuck with no real scoring and I couldn’t believe all those completions to Thad Reviello. Eric was only 14 years old and I still can’t believe how a 14-year-old could dominate at that level at that position in that type of game."
Eric enjoyed many great moments throughout his athletic career. He hit a dramatic shot at the buzzer to send a county semifinal game vs. Franklin to overtime. He had 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists to gain MVP honors and lead the Raiders to the Bound Brook Holiday Tournament title. He qualified for the Meet of Champions after missing most of his senior year due to illness.
His signature performance came in the final game of his junior year when he led the Raiders to a 28-0 triumph over Somerville on Thanksgiving Day. Eric threw two touchdown passes, ran one in and returned a punt for another to be responsible for all four scores in the game, the final one in the head coaching career of longtime HHS mentor Otto Gsell.
That victory jump-started the program into the next year, when Rick Mantz took over as head coach. Eric led the Raiders to a 7-2 season, the first of many great ones for the HHS football program. He was also widely recruited to play at the college level and eventually accepted a scholarship to Duke University. Mantz often credited Eric with opening the HHS door to college coaches because many Raiders followed him to the NCAA gridiron.
In many ways, Eric’s athletic career started more than just a family dynasty on the scholastic sports scene. It put Hillsborough High on the state athletic map.
"Knowing I helped start that legacy is a very positive thing," Eric said. "It’s amazing how something can grow. Look at what the football program has done and what the expectations are every year. Look at the field now. We have state-of-the-art turf, a great weight room. This whole complex is unbelievable. They have track events here. There are a lot of prime-time things going on here."
Eric’s younger siblings played big parts in the continued growth of athletics in Hillsborough. Jared entered HHS with similar fanfare and lived up to the billing as a three-sport superstar. He also fulfilled his obligation to uphold the family tradition.
"Any time you have a brother in front of you who shows you the example of how your mother and father told you to do it, you don’t want to mess it up," Jared said. "You do it through love and prayer and lots of practice. I tried to provide a good example for my younger brother and sister."
Jared made headlines on the football field, basketball court, track and field. He showed versatility by making plays as wide receiver, quarterback, defensive back and kick returner. He finished his career with 1,792 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns and 1,617 passing yards and 18 touchdowns to go with 14 interceptions.
He was a freshman wide receiver on the HHS team that advanced to the Central Jersey Group 4 final at Giants Stadium. Jared’s signature football performance came in his final game vs. Somerville. He accounted for five touchdowns, two passing and three rushing, and was named the Player of the Game for the C-Tech cable station covering the event.
Local fans and sportswriters enjoyed comparing Eric and Jared. Eric was known as the tough, hard-nosed player who ran through people. Jared earned the reputation as a finesse player with great speed and natural athletic ability. Jared dazzled fans with many big plays, but his father recalled one in particular.
"As a sophomore starting at left halfback, he had something like a 50-yard run where he split two Franklin defenders and almost caused them to collide," Warner I said. "That was one of the best moves I’ve ever seen."
Jared’s heroics certainly weren’t confined to the gridiron. He scored 1,225 points on the basketball court. His hoops career included a slam dunk against North Hunterdon and a conference title senior year.
On the track, Jared was a force in the sprints and jumps. He still holds the school record in the 200 meters. He qualified for the Meet of Champions in three events and helped the HHS boys win the Central Jersey Group 4 team title in 2000.
The Jones family spent a good chunk of time on the road while Eric and Jared played college football. They’d go to Jared’s high school games on Friday nights, Eric’s college contests on Saturday afternoons and Warner’s youth league games on Sundays. Once Eric was finished at Duke, they made longer trips, including one to a bowl game in Arizona, to see Jared play for Syracuse University.
"For 10-12 years, it was like we were on vacation every weekend from September to December," said Warner I, who estimated the family has logged over 300,000 miles traveling all over the country to watch games. "We wanted to have the opportunity to see them compete. We made a little vacation out of it and saw a lot of new places."
After years of long car rides and being shuttled around to countless athletic events, Ebony and Warner II finally got their chance to shine. Jared’s collegiate career ended around the same time Warner II and Ebony were starting to make their mark as Raiders.
Warner II knew he had some huge shoes to fill as a Jones but didn’t let that affect his performance. While he may not have been blessed with Division 1 ability, he was as determined and tough as anyone in the family.
"I never really looked at it as pressure," said Warner II, who is playing football at Moravian University. "It was something to try to achieve and live up to. I can’t be them, I just had to be myself. I knew I couldn’t be exactly like them."
Warner II accomplished one thing to duplicate his older brothers. He was named the HHS outstanding male athlete this past June. He also matched Eric and Jared by ending his football career on a high note, making two interceptions in last year’s Thanksgiving Day victory over Montgomery.
On the track, Warner II tied the school record in the 400 meters and won his second spring track and field MVP this past spring. He also helped the HHS boys win the county and conference relay titles.
Warner II has competed against some great athletes in the last few years. His dad loved watching him shut down New Brunswick star wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett in a scrimmage and Piscataway standout Malcolm Jenkins in a game. Jarrett has become one of the nation’s best receivers at the University of Southern California and Jenkins is a starter at Ohio State.
Ebony earned the reputation as a standout defender on the basketball court. Growing up with three older brothers wasn’t always easy, but she felt it helped her develop as an athlete.
"It turned me on to sports more," said Ebony, who hopes to walk on to the basketball team at Seton Hall University. "When you’re around it that much, all you can do is watch. I got mental toughness from them. There was no crying in sports. If you fell, you got back up. Sometimes, I think my dad forgot that I was a girl."
Ebony loved cheerleading as a little girl and made the competition team, but sports continued to grown on her. She was cut from the basketball team in sixth grade, which made her even more determined the following year. Instead of turning against basketball and sports in general, Ebony worked hard to become a fine basketball player and top-notch track and field athlete in high school.
She helped the HHS girls win two county and two conference titles in basketball and played a big part in the track and field program’s continued dominance on the local level. Ebony never lost a dual meet and helped the HHS girls win several county and conference relay and individual crowns while qualifying for the Meet of Champions twice.
Ebony’s signature performance came in the state basketball playoffs this past winter. With the Lady Raiders trailing Rancocas Valley by 12 in the fourth quarter, Ebony scored 13 points to key the rally that forced overtime. Hillsborough eventually won the game.
Watching his little girl sink pressure jump shots and lead fast breaks made it all come full circle for a proud papa watching from the stands.
"That was the kind of stuff I’d seen all the other ones do with the game on the line," Warner I said. "Ebony did the same kind of thing in that game. She was not going to lose."
Warner II and Ebony capped the Jones Era of Raider athletics as track and field athletes this past spring. Ebony nearly captured a Meet of Champions medal, finishing ninth in the 400 hurdles with her fastest time ever. Warner represented HHS in the Sunshine Bowl Football Classic in late June, marking the final time a Jones athlete competed in a scholastic event.
"What I think about the most with all of them is that they all put in a lot of time and effort into their sports," Warner I said. "They had natural ability, but they put a lot of time into it. They worked very hard."
"All my brothers and sisters are hard-working and we’re very determined," Eric added. "No matter what, when you step on the field as a Jones you have to put out your best."
All four Jones siblings possess different strengths, but they also share great common qualities like class, commitment and love of family. Most family members agree that the children received their speed, quickness and inner strength from Dad and toughness and smarts from Mom, who was ranked fifth in her high school class.
"It’s a real tribute to them," Eric said. "To have four kids graduate high school and be successful says a lot about them. They have done a lot to help us have advantages. We always tried to represent family. We always supported each other, on and off the field. We’re very family oriented and that starts with my mother and father."
"A lot of people don’t realize how much they’ve given us," Jared added. "It’s rare that you have six individuals look after each other with such love and conviction. I hope our family has established a tradition and a standard of excellence for Hillsborough sports and the whole community. I’m blessed to be a part of it."
The Jones family never forgets to count its many blessings.
"We always say our prayers together each morning and each night," said Warner I, an assistant minister at Faith Lutheran Church. "We get together as a family to pray. The kids even remind us to say our prayers. They never got too big for it or too proud for it. I know we’ve been blessed. A lot of it has to do with God looking out for us and taking care of us."

