Outstanding Athlete At Tight End

GRAY GOES TO NEXT LEVEL

Jacob Gray

Jacob Gray

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

FARMINGTON -- Excitement permeated Jacob Gray as he awoke on National signing day, Wednesday, Feb. 7.

"I've been pretty excited waking up knowing I'm going to be signing," Jacob Gray said, minutes after he and fellow Farmington senior football player Zach Newman signed letters of intent to play college football in front of a student assembly at Cardinal Arena.

Jacob Gray (6-2, 190) signed with Henderson State while Zach Newman (6-3, 305) signed with Arkansas Tech.

"I'm just blessed to have the opportunity, to have my family taking care of me," Jacob Gray said. "

Jacob Gray is the son of Bill and Karen Gray. His dad has worked out with him to develop pass-catching skills. A two-sport letterman, Jacob Gray cherishes memories of playing basketball over the summer and practicing running pass patterns and catching footballs with his dad. His mother offered a constant, endearing presence every step of the way.

"I'm glad to have someone who supported me every game," Jacob Gray said. "She went to all of them from playing with flags all the way to senior night. I'm glad to have her support."

Jacob Gray caught 17 passes for 203 yards, an average of 11.9-yards-per-catch with 4 touchdowns. He was named Outstanding tight end for the 5A West Conference twice, winning the honor as both a junior and a senior. Jacob Gray plans to major in business management.

"He literally plays with a chip on his shoulder," said teammate Caleb Williams. "You hear that a lot where its become a cliche, but with him its reality. If anyone does anything that even tries to compete with him he gets all fired up. You can see it in his eyes. He'll go to extreme lengths. Obviously, Henderson saw that."

Jacob Gray's enthusiasm for the game landed him on an offense that doesn't feature the tight end position. Farmington head football coach Mike Adams said Jacob Gray will be used as an H-back at Henderson.

"They don't have a tight end at Henderson," Mike Adams said. "He'll be a H-back type guy and move around a lot."

Jacob Gray's longest play was catching an 80-yard touchdown pass against Greenbrier as a junior.

"We went over it in practice," Jacob Gray said. "We did a little play-action. The safety fell for it. I was running a post route straight up the middle. (Quarterback Trey (Waggle) knew he was going to throw it to me. It worked out."

"I want to thank my parents, of course, Coach Mike Adams, my grandpa (Bill Gray), (head boys basketball) Coach (Beau) Thompson, (assistant boys basketball) Coach (Matt) Mahan."

Sports on 04/04/2018