ELLISVILLE — It didn’t take former Louisville standout Daylen Gill long to get a glimpse of what big-time junior college football entailed.
Gill emerged as a Day 1 starter at linebacker for Jones College, and as the Bobcats hosted Holmes Community College for the season opener, Gill settled into his spot on the field.
By the end of the play, Gill was left puzzled by what had just occurred.
“The first play of the game I blitzed and missed (on) my first tackle of the game,” Gill recalled. “I said, ‘I have to let the game slow down and get used to it.’ As I played more games, I got used to it, though.”
The game did indeed slow down for the newcomer, and at the end of the season, Gill finished with a team third-best 62 total tackles, a team-high 5.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and one interception. Even without the Bobcats’ 27-7 win against Eastern Arizona Community College in the Mississippi Bowl, Gill’s season by all measures would be considered a success.
Gill and the Bobcats enjoyed a number of successes last season, including playing for an MACJC state championship and accumulating 10 wins. One of the most memorable for the linebacker, however, occurred on Sept. 6 just before stepping on the field for his first collegiate game.
“My first game of the season when we ran out, I loved the atmosphere,” Gill said of his most memorable moment. “The fans and student section, it was good. I loved it.”
Gill wasn’t the only former Louisville Wildcat to play for Jones last season. Gill’s cousin, Lakevias Daniel, saw action in 11 games as a defensive back and posted seven tackles and one interception.
It’s no surprise to learn the two were first-year roommates.
“Honestly, we’ve been playing football together for all our lives,” Daniel said. “We’ve played since little league…We started (playing) around 9 or 10 for the Chiefs. And then we transitioned from city league teams until we finally got to middle school ball… We’ve been playing ever since then.”
Both Gill and Daniel had additional college offers while at Louisville, but Daniel said Jones appealed to both of them, in part, due to the feeling of familiarity they experienced when visiting.
“We had other options, but Jones just fit us best,” Daniel said. “They always made us feel at home. We just liked the atmosphere, and coming to Jones just felt like the best decision for both of us. They just showed a lot of interest, so we made the decision to go to Jones, and that was the best decision we could have made.”
Daniel played in all but two of the Bobcats’ games due to injury. Gill, however, played in all 12 of Jones’ contests. He commented on the differences between the level of competition he routinely faced at Louisville, compared to that of junior college level.
“In high school, you play against good people, but when you get to the next level, they’re more disciplined,” Gill said. “At Louisville, I was disciplined and I had some great coaches, so when I got to the next level, I knew some of the stuff.”
For Daniel, the inaugural season allowed him to learn more about the intricacies of his position, which he said he hopes to build on next year as a sophomore.
“I learned a lot from my coaches and teammates,” Daniel said. “From my coaches, how to be a better person and a better player… They taught me more than I already knew about my position. I learned a lot more techniques and fundamentals about my position.”
