The word everyone uses when talking about Jake Jones is “quick.”

Click on his recruiting video, and it is confirmed.

Off the whistle he’s on the move and a disrupting menace. It’s what separates the Campo Verde defensive tackle from others and leads to big plays behind the line.

He plays with intensity and purpose.

And there’s a reason for it.

As quick and strong as Jones is, he was slowed – more like halted to a complete stop.

His world was disrupted and redirected two years ago after finding out his father was diagnosed with stage four cancer.

“It’s hard when the person you looked up to your whole life as Superman just has to deal with everything he had to go through,” he said. “He’s an absolute fighter, and I owe all my strength to him.”

It’s a diagnosis that hits harder than anything that happens on the football field.

It comes with immediate thoughts of dread regardless of the stage let alone four. Support is everything, and finding someone who understands can ease at least some of the terrible feeling that envelops your entire body and permeates every thought.

Jones doesn’t have to look too far.

“Jake and I have that shared suffering,” Campo Verde coach Ryan Freeman said. “I don’t have cancer. Jake doesn’t have cancer. But the most important people in our lives have fought and are fighting that battle. It’s that shared trial.

“We don’t even have to say it. He’s seen it. He’s lived it. So am I.”

Jake’s father, Scott, has been given a clean bill of health, while Freeman’s 11-year daughter Briley is still in the midst of treatment while also dealing with a staph infection.

“It’s part of our journey,” Freeman said. “I feel bad for players because I’ve been gone so much. I’ve been very honest and people give me grace. When I am here, I give them everything I have. When I’m not here they know I am still thinking about them. It’s been hard.”

Freeman and his family are dealing with this level of unsettling discord to life with his daughter receiving treatment in Tucson.

“Whenever I come back (from seeing Briley) Jake is always one of the first to greet me and gives me the support and understanding of what’s needed in times like that,” Freeman said. “When you have shared pain; shared sorrow it connects you. We talk about it with the team.

“The kids you go through summer camp with, weights with … they understand the suffering. It helps build a better team. It’s even deeper when something like cancer is involved.”

It makes the time on the field together that much more vibrant and meaningful.

Jones, Freeman and the Coyotes will renew that feeling when they open their season this week across state lines.

Campo Verde, which will attempt to make another 5A playoff run, travels to Mission Viejo, Calif., to face Capistrano Valley on Friday. It’s a start of Jones’ final season in the program - that almost didn’t happen – before heading off to Washington St.

And no one is more appreciative of the journey to Jones' commitment to be a Cougar than his father.

"When I was going through treatment Jake and I talked about it," said Scott Jones, who played at Parker High. "We didn't know what the future held, but I promised him I'd see him run on the field to play college football."

Jones came up through the feeder system for Campo Verde but open enrolled at Chandler only to realize the blue and white of a Wolf didn’t fit quite as well and the green, copper and black of a Coyote.

“I’ve been playing for the Coyotes since I was in the fourth grade,” the California native said about transferring after freshman season. “I took a little detour there. The best thing about being here is it is family oriented, and (Freeman) is the best coach I’ve ever had.

“This place has always been home.”

Since returning, Jones’ growth – on the field and physically – has been impressive. It also came with a few changes. At Chandler, he played outside linebacker and defensive end while topping out at about 235 pounds.

He dropped inside as a defensive tackle and was 260 by his junior year and now he’s 6-foot-2 and 290 pounds and often double teamed. His junior stats – 34 tackles, 9 tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks and 13 quarterback hurries last season – will likely improve.

But after film studies, the opposition will likely put more attention on No. 19.

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world when you move someone against their will,” said Jones, who will see time at tight end as well. “It’s about power and strength, and I’ve always had agility that makes a real difference (in the trenches).”

Jake Jones, left, and his dad, Scott, decided to acknowledge some of their battles with tattoos. (Photo courtesy of Scott Jones)

However it plays out Jones knows life has a way of changing someone’s perspective.

It’s represented with a tattoo, that he and his father both have, on his right arm that includes a buffalo running toward ominus clouds.

“Dad overcame stage four, and I’ve been through some things,” he said. “His wish is to see me play college football. It’s what pushed me to be even better. He showed me that you can overcome by fighting through the storm.”