Growing Into A New Position

Many talented prep players quickly find out that the difference between high school ball and college football is like night and day.

This is exactly what happened to former Nature Coast Technical linebacker Jason Joens, who went from Brooksville to playing Division III football with Thiel College in Greensburg, Pa.

Joens, at 6-foot-4, 188 pounds, Joens had the perfect frame for a high school football player.

But now in his sophomore year at the President's Athletic Conference school; Joens went from playing outside linebacker at NCT and during his first year of college to playing defensive end.

Joens admits there is a huge difference in the two positions.

"Yeah, it's a big difference," he said. "Most of the time I'm outweighed by 30 or 40 pounds. But I've got good coaches and they've helped me a lot."

Last year, Joens roamed on special teams for the Tomcats, who finished 3-7 overall.

Then during the offseason, the Thiel coaches moved Joens from a standup linebacker into a three-point stance as a defensive end.

"The biggest thing is the size of the guys, I mean, you come in from high school and you're playing small, quick guys," admitted Joens. "Then in college you are going against 23-year-old guys who weigh 220-230 pounds."

Speed kills

Joens said another thing that he has found out about playing college football in Pennsylvania is the speed of the other players.

"In Florida, you get used to there being a lot of players who are really fast," added Joens. "But up here, even though the players are bigger, they're not nearly as fast."

As a sophomore, Joens says so far he hasn't decided on what to major in, but he is taking more classes that interest him.

"I'm taking a lot of art and art history classes right now," declared Joens. "I just don't know what I'll end up majoring in, so I'm taking classes that intrigue me."

The other major adjustment Joens has to make between high school and college is the weather.

"Oh, it's cold up here in the winter, there's no doubt about that," Joens said. "Being from Florida, it's tough getting used to these Pennsylvania winters.

So far

In the four games Thiel has played, all of them losses, Joens has gotten in at defensive end, making one tackle against Marietta (Ohio) and getting two assists, including half of a sack, in the 16-0 loss to Albion.

Though the Tomcats recently dropped their homecoming game against Geneva, 31-27, it turned out to be a good week for Joens as his mother made the trip up to Pennsylvania.

Joens also said that during the week leading up to the game, he hoped his mom would help him some.

"It's pretty much set up, but I did talk her into doing some laundry for me," said Joens with a laugh.