Jarvis Jones helped Carver-Columbus win its first football state championship. After two All-American seasons at the University of Georgia and a four-year NFL career, Jones went back Carver to continue what he helped get started.
The result was the same for Jones and Carver. The Tigers are undefeated state champions in 2025 with Jones as head coach, just like they were in 2007 with Jones as star linebacker.
“It means absolutely everything,” Jones said after Carver’s 24-7 victory over Hapeville Charter in the Class 2A state championship on Tuesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “Everything. I’m going to enjoy this and get back to work for another one.”
It’s the second consecutive state title for the top-ranked Tigers (15-0). They won last season with coach Pierre Coffey. When Coffey left for a principal job in Stewart County, Carver turned to Jones, who had never been a head coach before.
It was a good move for Carver.
“He’s a great coach (even though) it’s his first year doing it,” Carver freshman quarterback Sebastian Heard said. “He coaches us to be great and trust in ourselves and trust in our teammates.”
Carver’s 2007 team ended a 30-year drought of regional championships before capturing the state tile. That got the program rolling. The Tigers would win the next five region titles.
Jones also played for Carver in 2008 before going to play for coach Pete Carroll at USC. Jones transferred to Georgia, where he starred for two seasons with coach Mark Richt. Carver was on Kirby Smart’s Georgia staff when his high school alma mater came calling.
The Tigers expected to compete for another state championship with Jones as coach, and he delivered.
“It’s amazing,” Jones said. “It’s a blessing. It’s something I’m definitely grateful for. Man, I can’t even speak right now.
“All that has transpired (to get) where we are at today, I’m grateful to be here. I’m grateful for the guys that I go to war with. I love this team.”
The Tigers broke the game open with two touchdowns within 33 seconds in the fourth quarter. Carver went ahead 17-7 on Jakobe Caslin’s one-yard touchdown run with 6:49 to play. The Tigers put away the Hornets with JaMarcus Davis’ 36-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Those plays were among the few times that Jones’ dropped his usual stoic sideline demeanor and broke out in enthusiastic celebrations.
“He’s pretty chill, laid back,” said Carver senior linebacker Tristian Givens, a Texas A&M signee. “But he means what he says.”
The state title game victory was the crowning achievement of a dominant season for Carver. The Tigers produced eight shutout victories. No. 7 Hapeville (10-5) was one of just three opponents to keep its losing margin within three scores.
Carver’s only close call was an 8-7 victory at then-No. 10 Sumter County on Oct. 10.
“That definitely built us,” Jones said. “We saw areas where we had to improve. It definitely helped us strive to be where we are today.”
After the tight victory over Sumter County, Carver reeled off six decisive victories in a row to make it to back to the state championship game. Then the Tigers became the school’s first back-to-back state champions.
“It feels great,” Givens said. “Coming out here with the guys, repeating, making history — it feels wonderful.”
Penalties made it hard for the Tigers to pull away from Hapeville. They were flagged nine times for 83 yards before halftime. Carver kicked a field goal for a 3-0 lead after a touchdown was called back by a penalty. They led 10-0 after Heard’s 38-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Kei’Maurii Miles with less than seven minutes until halftime.
Hapeville answered with a touchdown just before the break.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Jones said. “They are a very good team. They do what they do well. I told guys, ‘Win one moment at a time. The thing we control is us.’
“You can’t coach effort. I told them to make the effort count twice, and we came out and that’s what we did.”
A miscue by Carver gave the Hornets another good scoring chance after halftime. A snap over the punter’s head resulted in a fumble, and Hapeville ended up with first-and-goal at the 10.
The Hornets gained seven yards on first-and-goal, got stopped for no gain on second down and completed a pass for six yards on third down. They went for the touchdown on fourth down, but a fumbled quarterback exchange scuttled the play.
The Tigers ended their next possession with a punt. Hapeville’s Zion Crawford ran it back for an apparent 71-yard touchdown, but a penalty brought the ball back. That ended up being the last gasp for the Hornets.
The Tigers wouldn’t be denied another state championship. That makes two titles for Jones at his alma mater, one as a linebacker and one as a first-year head coach.
“It’s just amazing over the years of seeing these guys’ hard work,” Jones said. “Being able to help mold them from a physical and mental standpoint (at) my alma mater. (A state tile) was something we set out for and we accomplished it.
“It just don’t get no better than that.”
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