'Small communities are special.' Port St. Joe coach praises support in wake of players' deaths
In the wake of tragedy, Tanner Jones pointed to the spirit and strength of community.
“It’s amazing – this is such a unique place,” said Jones, the athletic director and football coach at Port St. Joe High.
“The show of support…these small communities, that’s the best part. Everyone looks out for each other.”
Port St. Joe and the Gulf County community continue to mourn the deaths of Port St. Joe student-athletes TJ Jenkins and Andrew Sheppard. They were killed in a single-vehicle crash on CR 386 in Gulf County last Saturday just after 11 p.m., according to Florida Highway Patrol.
Jenkins, 18, a two-sport athlete in football and basketball, would have been entering his senior season for the Sharks in August. Sheppard, 16, who played football and was on the weightlifting team, was a rising junior.
The pair played in the Sharks’ three-team jamboree with Munroe and St. John Paul II at Quincy’s Corry Field on May 12.
Jenkins played multiple positions, including quarterback. Sheppard had transitioned from safety to linebacker.
Jones, 36, entering his fourth season at Port St. Joe and a former star quarterback at Wakulla High, talked of the pair’s impact on their families, teammates and the community.
Port St. Joe was opened Sunday to let students gather and mourn. When Jones met with the Sharks’ football and basketball teams in the school gymnasium Monday, he told players to remember Jenkins and Sheppard in the “most positive light you can.” He also praised the players’ families.
An estimated 1,000 people attended a candlelight vigil for the pair Monday night at Shark Stadium to share prayers and memories.
“It was shoulder-to-shoulder in the stadium,” Jones said of the event.
“TJ was just an unbelievable athlete, he was our pivot guy. Shep was quiet as he can be… but he wasn’t going to shy away (from competition). We won together, we lost together, we celebrated, we cried. Two very good kids. Fill the void for them where you can.”
Jones, who also coached at Taylor County and Cairo, Georgia, again stressed the assistance and affection from the community and surrounding areas.
He pointed to food donations and raising money to help pay for arrangements and other costs to businesses donating tents, chairs and other essentials. He said the giving atmosphere reminded him of his childhood in Wakulla, where he played football in high school for his father, J.D. Jones, who won consecutive state titles in the early 1980s.
"The small communities are special. Everyone is ready to help," Jones said.
Port St. Joe, with just under 4,000 residents and nestled on St. Joseph Bay, and Wewahitchka are located in Gulf County, 112 miles southwest of Leon County.
Funeral services will be held for both Jenkins and Sheppard in the Port St. Joe High School gymnasium on Saturday, with services for Jenkins beginning at 11 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) and services for Sheppard beginning at 3 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Port St. Joe football coach thankful for community after players' deaths
