Oakton Grad Part of ODU Football History

As a freshman, Akil Jones played on the junior varsity football team at Colonial Forge High School in Stafford County.

One of the top players on the varsity was Chris Lovitt. Now, four years later, Oakton High graduate Jones and Lovitt are teammates with the football program at Division I-AA Old Dominion University of the powerhouse Colonial Athletic Association.

"I remember going against him when the varsity would scrimmage the JV," Lovitt said of Jones, who transferred to Oakton High during his sophomore year and was one of the top players for the Cougars as a senior in 2010.

So what did Lovitt think of Jones, a 5-foot-10 freshman cornerback, when practice began last month at ODU?

"I was very impressed. Seeing him play, I was very impressed," said Lovitt, one of the top wide receivers for the Monarchs.

Jones realizes that playing time will be very difficult this season since he is a preferred walk-on.

"You have to go out and practice every day and give 100 percent. Eventually the opportunity will come to you," Jones said.

Last year Jones was a cornerback and returned kicks for Oakton, where he also ran track. He looked into several schools at various levels for college football, including Connecticut, Richmond, Christopher Newport, Catholic, Shepherd and ODU.

He went with the Monarchs. "They have a winning team, with a winning pedigree," he said.

The Monarchs were 8-3 last year, with a 4-0 mark on the road. ODU beat CAA foe Georgia State and almost beat William and Mary, among the top programs in the CAA, before losing, 21-17.

Bobby Wilder was named the ODU coach in 2007 and the first season for the team in several decades was 2009, when the team was 9-2.

By most accounts the CAA is considered the top Division I-AA league in the country, the SEC answer to the Division I level.

Five CAA teams have won a national title: UMass in 1998, Delaware in 2003, JMU in 2004, Richmond in 2008 and Villanova in 2009. The league has also had three runner-ups since 2006 and more than one CAA team has made the national playoffs the past 20 years. There has been a CAA team in the national title game six of the last eight years.

ODU began its season Sept. 3 at home with a 41-14 win over Campbell. The first CAA game for the Monarchs will be Saturday at Georgia State.

Now Jones is part of a program that can attract players from the 757 area code that has produced many NFL players. "It has been quite interesting to be part of it," said Jones, who plans to study business.

He is the son of Rodney and Denise Jones. His father played defensive back in high school. Jones said his parents recently moved from Fairfax to Waldorf, Md.