Coach Randy Coleman has been at Jonesboro for 11 years, but has yet to see a quarterback like sophomore Cross Jumper.
“He’s unlike any quarterback we’ve had and we’ve had some good ones,” Coleman said. “He’s just different. There’s something that’s different about him because all the other kids kind of gravitate to him. He’s vocal, but not overly vocal. He’s got that 'it.'”
Jumper (6-2, 190, 4.72 seconds in 40-yard dash) completed 144 of 276 passes for 2,413 yards and 28 touchdowns while also rushing 120 times for 707 yards and 7 touchdowns leading the Hurricanes to an 8-5 record.
Coleman has had seven other starting quarterbacks during his time in Jonesboro, including AJ Aycock of LSU and Carson Coats of Arkansas State. Aycock walked on with the Tigers for the 2018 season while Coats walked on and earned a scholarship from the Red Wolves.
A Tennessee baseball commitment, Jumper has the arm strength, leadership and other intangibles needed at the position.
“He throws a baseball 91 and had the year at quarterback he had for us,” Coleman said. “He’s special. He can make all the throws. A lot of kids nowadays, nobody wants to step up and be the leader and he just does it naturally.”
Jumper went 21-0 as a quarterback during his 7th, 8th and 9th grade years. It’s wasn’t until about mid-season that Coleman gave Jumper the full playbook.
“Really during the non-conference portion of the year we didn’t know he can run,” Coleman said. “We knew he was a good athlete. We really started playing good football when we started focusing more on implementing him in the running game and he ended the year with over 700 yards rushing and 7 touchdowns. We really didn't start calling running plays with him until the Pine Bluff game in Week 6.”
Being a baseball commitment has probably slowed Jumper’s recruiting in football, but schools know about him.
“None of the schools have pulled the trigger yet and I don’t know if it’s the Tennessee baseball commit that he is,” Coleman said. “We’ve talked to Memphis, we talked to SMU, we talked to Tennessee. Jim Chaney came in to see him. We’ve talked to coach (Chad) Morris about him. He likes the way he looks. I’ve talked to Jeff Scott at Clemson and Vanderbilt.”
Coleman is confident Jumper can play both sports in college.
“You have to have a love and a passion for those sports you’re going to do on a collegiate level and Cross loves both,” Coleman said.