Staff file photo / Greg Macafee Brookfield junior Aiden Jones runs for a gain against Ursuline during their season-opening matchup at Youngstown State University.

BROOKFIELD — It’s no secret that head coach Randy Clark and the Brookfield Warriors have no shortage of athletes.

From their starting quarterback in Donovan Pawlowski to their 6-foot-5, 190-pound wide receiver in Isaiah Jones, the football field is filled with talent with the Warriors crossing the white stripe on the sideline.

But, early on, the Warriors had trouble getting them all onto the field, mainly their talented running back tandem of sophomore Christian Davis and Aiden Jones. So, after a season-opening loss to Ursuline, Clark decided to make some changes and one of those changes was moving Aiden Jones from running back to slot receiver.

Although the transition was tough for the junior pass catcher at first, Aiden showed what he was truly capable of this past week catching six passes for 157 yards and four touchdowns in Brookfield’s 35-14 win over Garfield.

“Everything has kinda come together for me,” Aiden said with a smile.

Just last season, the Warriors tried Aiden out and wide receiver, but even he admitted he couldn’t catch. So, they moved him back to running and throughout the beginning of the season and during the preseason he showed that he could run the ball. But, after the Ursuline loss Clark decided to make the move.

“The main thing is we were getting double coverage on Isaiah and with Aiden’s speed and those two on the same side, after last week, it should help both of them out,” Clark said. “Speed wise we like to run a lot of deep passes and now I think we have our four fastest kids on the team running those routes.”

Early on in the transition, Aiden said the toughest part of his move to the slot was just learning the routes and learning the play book. At first he was used primarily as a runner still, running jet sweeps and things like that, but as time has gone on he’s started to pick up the routes and learn the offense with a little help from his teammates and his coaches.

But this past week even showcased why Clark made the move in the first place.

“During my first score (against Garfield), they were all guarding my brother, so I was wide open,” Aiden said. “But as I started scoring they started guarding me. The dude they had manned up on me was the safety so Don (Pawlowksi) told me to cut inside and it paid off.”

Outside of taking attention away from his older brother, Aiden has a certain skill set that makes him a perfect fit for the slot position. While they’ve been working on improving his hands, his natural speed, athleticism and quickness gives him the opportunity to separate from defenders in short-yardage situations, while also aggressively attacking opposing defenses with a different-look running game.

“He’s very exciting with the ball in his hands and we still run jet sweeps with him and all that stuff,” Clark said. “The attention he’s going to get because of his speed is gonna open everything else up for Christian and Donovan and everybody else.”

The addition of Aiden to the receiving corps gives the Warriors so many options on the offensive side of the ball and it forces defenses to pick their poison when it comes to stopping them. While the two Jones’ will be tough to stop on the outside, there’s still Davis to worry about in the back field.

Oh, don’t forget about the fleet-footed Pawlowski, who has been just as dangerous with his legs as he is with his arm.

Just one move could completely open up the Brookfield offense down the stretch and Aiden believes it’s exciting to see.

“It makes our team a lot better because me and Christian at running back are two pretty good running backs but putting both of us on the field with my brother, Donovan, all of us at the same, it all fits pretty well.”