Jonesboro football poised and primed entering 2025

Jonesboro was coming off its first season with a winning record since 2002 and a second-round appearance in the 2008 Class 4A playoffs. But after the season Jonesboro coach Clint Satterfield announced that he will be taking over at Locust Grove.

To fill that void, the Cardinals announced the hiring of Tim Floyd.

In his first season, Floyd went a disappointing 2-8 (funny enough, Satterfield also went 2-8 in his first season). The team improved in his second season to 5-5, and since then have not looked back. Floyd took the Cardinals to three-straight winning seasons over 2011-13, a feat that had not been accomplished since the 1970s.

Then in 2015, coach Floyd did it; he won a region championship, Jonesboro’s first in over 60 years. Jonesboro has not won a region since that year.

However, Floyd has completely changed the program into a program that is competing year in and year out.

Last season, Jonesboro went 8-4 and made it to the second round of the Class 4A playoffs. This included wins over Starr’s Mill 29-24 and Harris County 14-12. The Cardinals finished second in the region following a 23-31 loss to Central Carrollton. The team fell to Blessed Trinity in the second round 22-7.

Even though the team lost multiple key starters, the Cardinals are still viewed as a potential dark horse to win 4A.

At quarterback, 2024 starter Jamon Jones graduated after a senior season where he threw for 18 touchdowns. Ethan Sharpe transfers in from 6A school Berkmar to replace Jones. The 2026 graduate has a good frame and good vision which will help him go up against tough opponents.

“He is a great quarterback, he can read the field, and he is going to help us score a lot,” athlete Naquoye Govan said.

Starting running back Isiah Davis is returning ahead of his senior season. The 5-foot-11 back ran for 833 yards and 10 scores on the ground last season. Jonesboro has another elite weapon in Benjamin Boyd. His size and speed makes him a quarterback’s best friend. The 2027 standout already holds multiple division one offers including one from Georgia Southern.

Another receiver who is going to be crucial to the success of Jonesboro is Jontavius Wyman. The senior athlete (who is actually a Miami commit on the defensive side of the ball), led Jonesboro in both receiving yards (506) and receiving touchdowns (seven) last season.  Wyman was the region athlete of the season as a junior.

What will benefit the entire team is the elite group of offensive lineman that Jonesboro has. This includes a ton of key players with one returning First-team All-Region player in Quadra Barnes. One of the more intriguing players on the offensive line is Cassius Butts. The senior is a massive 6-foot-7 and weighs in at 270 points. Senior Aaron Dixon is also a notable player on the offensive line.

As for the other side of the ball, the 2024 season’s leader in total tackles Decari Farley returns for his senior season. The Second-team All-Regio linebacker will be critical to winning with a player like Central running back Jonaz Walton in the region. Miami-commit Cortez Redding was one tackle behind him on the tackles leader’s chart. The 4-star safety pairs greatly with fellow Miami commit Jontavius Wyman in what the team views as a special secondary.

“Every day going rep-for-rep with them helps us a lot because we are not going up against a lot of defensive backs who are 4-and 5-stars,” receiver Frank Jackson said.

The defensive line is working on “beefing” up for the upcoming season with players like Michael McGhee manning the trenches. McGhee and co. will have to step up in the absence of a pair of All-Region defensive lineman from last season.

The Cardinals are on a united goal of winning the school’s first ever state title. At Jonesboro’s media day, Score Atlanta asked every player one same question, and ironically every player had the same answer.

“The game I am most looking forward to this season is against Douglas County,” the team unanimously agreed.

There are multiple reasons for this, most obviously it is that Douglas County is full of stars, but looking deeper there is a much more interesting reason for this. One of Douglas County’s premier players is 2026 defensive back Jamar Owens. Owens played at Jonesboro for his first few seasons of his high school career.

“He is my brother," three-star linebacker Jeremiah Collier said about Owens. “We have been playing rec ball with each other since we were like 12,” he went on.

Jonesboro will kick off its 2025 football season against Mount Zion on August 15th.

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