Humphreys, Skelton take next step
<p>The Ronan football coaching staff — Brendon Decock, Tom Peterson, Jim Benn and Ryan Wells — pose with their two players that just signed their letters of intent to play college football.</p>
RONAN — Ronan cornerback Jack Humphreys mused over his letter of intent in the Ronan High School Library last Wednesday when someone asked him about the mascot of his new school.
“I’m going to be a Blue Hawk,” Humphreys replied. “But I’ll always be a Chief.”
And with the stroke of their pens, Humphreys and fellow teammate Jake Skelton inked their future as college football players. Humphreys signed with Dickinson State University in North Dakota and Skelton signed with MSU-Northern in Havre. Both will play in the Frontier Conference of the NAIA and will more than likely play against one another.
RONAN — Ronan cornerback Jack Humphreys mused over his letter of intent in the Ronan High School Library last Wednesday when someone asked him about the mascot of his new school.
“I’m going to be a Blue Hawk,” Humphreys replied. “But I’ll always be a Chief.”
And with the stroke of their pens, Humphreys and fellow teammate Jake Skelton inked their future as college football players. Humphreys signed with Dickinson State University in North Dakota and Skelton signed with MSU-Northern in Havre. Both will play in the Frontier Conference of the NAIA and will more than likely play against one another.
But for most people in the Mission Valley, these two guys will be remembered for their play while wearing the orange and black.
In 2011, the two all-state players came together as key cogs in the Wramblin’ Wreck Ronan football team that ran all the way to the state semifinals in its first year of Class B. It was the Chiefs’ best football team in 22 years, with Skelton as a punishing running back almost impossible to tackle and Humphreys (nicknamed “the Ripper”) at cornerback putting opposing wide receivers on an island of coverage they couldn’t escape even if they had a boat.
“It was my final year of high school football and I loved playing with these guys,” Skelton said.
Skelton transferred to Ronan for his senior season and led the team in rushing with 1,041 yards. That accounted for over 30 percent of the Chiefs’ offense on the ground and worked out to an average of 6.12 yards per carry. In Madden terms, it was like Skelton was playing on “Rookie” mode. He broke a few ribs of defensive backs and tied for the team lead in touchdowns with eight.
For the Northern Lights, Skelton looks to bring his punishing style of running to the MSU-Northern backfield. The Lights finished 5-5 last season. The school itself has about 1,200 students and is still somewhat close to home.
“I recently took a trip over to Havre and I liked it,” Skelton said. “I felt like I had a good shot to play and I have lots of friends up there.”