The way Kevin Jones describes it, you would think it's easy.

	Jones has football talent.

"Nothing really goes through my mind when I run the ball," says Cardinal O'Hara High's (Springfield, Pa.) senior running back, who has been anointed by most recruiting experts as the nation's premiere high school football player. "I just take the handoff and run. If somebody's in my way, I run past them. If I have to, I'll run over them. It doesn't matter to me. Whatever it takes to get by them."

While Jones' description of his running style may be accurate, there has to be more to it than simply taking the handoff and running around, over or past any oncoming defenders.

There is, because not everybody has the size (6-foot-1, 202 pounds) to steamroll through would-be tacklers each time they touch the ball. Your average high school running back doesn't run the 40-yard dash in a swift 4.23 seconds, while few 18-year-olds can bench-press 370 pounds and squat more than 400.

But Jones possesses all of the above, and he has used the complete package to register one of the most prolific careers in Pennsylvania high school football history.

"He's got it all. And he's only going to get better," says Cardinal O'Hara head football coach George Stratts of Jones, whose 4,610 career rushing yards and 65 touchdowns have had virtually every top college football program in the country knocking on the door of his Chester, Pa., home. "I don't think I've ever seen a kid with his kind of push and dedication off the field. That's a scary thought, because all he needs is a little steam and he's going to take the ball a long way. You'll never touch him if he gives you a fake, and forget about it if he gets a step on you , because he's as good as gone."

To his credit, Jones has not allowed all of the hoopla surrounding him to go to his head. But he does embrace it.

"I love having everybody wanting to watch me play. I like having all the cameras and scouts at our games," he says. "Football is giving me an opportunity. I owe it to myself and my teammates to go out and try to be the best."

	"He's got it all. And he's only going to get better," says Cardinal O'Hara head football coach George Stratts of Jones.

It's the latter part of that statement that makes Jones so likeable to his teammates.

"Does he have a big head? No way. Not Kevin," says senior Mike Terenick, a first team All-Catholic League center last season. "He's out there to win just like the rest of us. He's nice to everyone and he's a lot of fun to hang out with."

"Just seeing how hard he works in the weight room and how much he wants to win makes everyone else work that much harder," says Cardinal O'Hara's returning quarterback, senior Mike Lomas. "Kevin always puts the team first."

Big things are expected this fall from the Lions, who are coming off a somewhat disappointing 6-5 record last year. The team returns 17 starters, including six of the seven offensive linemen who lettered last season.

You can be sure that fact has already cost opposing Catholic League coaches plenty of sleep. The last time Cardinal O'Hara had a veteran offensive line, Jones, then a sophomore, broke the league rushing record and became the first player in the history of Delaware County to run for more than 2,000 yards (2,082, to be exact) in a season. The Lions went 10-0 in the regular season that year, but lost to LaSalle High in the state playoffs.

Last season, with only one experienced offensive lineman in front of him, Jones fought his way to 1,829 yards and 26 TDs. He battled through ankle and back injuries, and still averaged 8.9 yards per carry.

"Running for over 1,800 yards isn't too shabby," says Stratts, who plans to play Jones on defense at free safety this season. "He'll have more help this season, so the sky's the limit."

There are also no boundaries as to where Jones can go after he graduates from Cardinal O'Hara. The two-time All-State sprinter, who would also like to run track in college, lists (in no particular order) Penn State, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Florida State and Michigan as his top five choices.

After that, Jones strongly believes he could be playing on the ultimate stage.

"I think I'll make it to the NFL," he says, somehow without sounding bold or cocky. "Good things happen to people who live right and trust in God. I know I have the ability. I think God can take me there if I continue to work hard."

It's as simple as that.