Kansas Pregame 8-Man Top 8: Gatlin Jewell

Kansas Pregame polled 8-Man coaches earlier this month who voted for the top four seniors they coached against this season. Kansas Pregame staffers then used those votes to develop a Top 8 list of seniors for each division. Kansas Pregame will provide features for each of the 16 Top 8 selections. Check out the ninth of those profiles below:

Gatlin Jewell, RB/LB, 6-0, 190, South Barber, 8-Man Division II

South Barber was a tough team to slow down in 2021, averaging 47 points per game heading into their playoff loss to a Wheatland-Grinnell team in the midst of the best season in school history.

Playing no small role in that offensive attack was senior Gatlin Jewell. The 6-foot, 190 pound offensive weapon rumbled for 1,309 yards and 28 touchdowns on 207 carries and added 25 receptions for 306 yards and six more scores as a receiver.

“Gatlin has a unique balance between speed, power, and vision,” head coach Matt Cantrell said. “He has the speed to get to the edge and turn the corner and also has the speed to accelerate through the holes. He not only can run on the outside, but has the power to run on the inside as well. His power at running back allows him to run through tackles and carry tacklers with him. His vision as a runner is excellent. He has the ability to see the open gaps in the defense and hit them hard. The fact that gets overlooked a lot is Gatlin's abilities as a receiver out of the backfield. He started out his high school career as a tight end, playing there his freshman and sophomore years. He runs great routes, has tremendous hands, and has the ability to create yards after the catch.”

Jewell was newly converted to running back after amassing 2,073 total yards in just nine games as a dual-threat quarterback during his junior season. The QB gene in the Jewell family was passed on to younger brother, sophomore Briggs Jewell, who took over as signal caller, allowing more flexibility for Gatlin within the offense.

“Before the season I knew I wanted to move Gatlin to running back, instead of quarterback, where he played his junior year,” Cantrell said. “This would allow us to get the ball to Gatlin all over the field in different ways. We needed someone that could step in and handle the QB responsibilities. I could see when Briggs was a freshman that he had the skill set to be a very good QB. We decided to make the move this summer and worked all summer on it. A big test was when we went to summer camp at Southwestern College. I wanted to see how Briggs would handle the QB position. He did great and exceeded my expectations. They complement each other well in the backfield. Being able to move Gatlin around in our offense, and Briggs being able to deliver the football in the passing game made our offense very hard to stop.”

Briggs finished his sophomore campaign with 1,350 passing yards and 22 touchdowns to only five interceptions, while Gatlin thrived with his sibling on the field.

“Transitioning from quarterback to running back was very fun for me,” Gatlin said. “It came very naturally and I believe playing quarterback the year prior is part of the reason the transition was easy. I was able to share the backfield with my younger brother Briggs Jewell, who took over the quarterback position this year. I think it was very beneficial for both of us. We were able to communicate play-by-play and help each other with route concepts, blocking schemes, handoffs, etc.”

Gatlin’s talent’s weren’t lost on the defensive side of the ball, where from his linebacker spot he had 62 tackles, six tackles-for-loss, a sack, two interceptions, three pass deflections and a fumble recovery.

“Gatlin has greatly improved as a linebacker all four years of his high school career. Having moved into the school district his freshman year from a school in Oklahoma that didn’t have football, Gatlin was somewhat behind in his defensive techniques when he got here,” Cantrell said. “He is intelligent and coachable which led him to develop into an all-state linebacker by his senior year. He has a great nose for the football and understands the game. He gets himself in the right spots to be successful.”

Jewell’s efforts helped the Chieftains finish the season 9-2 after their exit in Sectionals. 

“I was very pleased with how my senior season turned out,” Jewell said. “Our goal at the beginning of the season was to ‘Bring it back,’ referring to the district title. Not only did we bring back the district title, but also the bi-district and regional titles as well! We ended up going 9-2 and avenged our one and only regular season loss in the second round of the playoffs against our league rival Norwich. It didn’t necessarily end how we wanted it too, but it is nothing to frown upon.”

Over his career, Jewell amassed 4,259 total yards and 59 touchdowns and helped South Barber to a 32-9 record.

After he completes his senior year Jewell hopes to play college football where he plans to major in Health Sciences and pursue a career in Physical Therapy. He has received scholarship offers from DII, NAIA and junior college programs and is still weighing his options.

*Editor's Note: Kansas Pregame has opted to include only seniors in our Top 8 list in an effort to reward them for their success in high school. This year, especially in Division II, there were a number of top players who were juniors. Axtell's Isaac Detweiler, Wheatland-Grinnell's Jett Vincent and Thunder Ridge's Dylan Bice are just a few of those likely among the Top 8 players in the classification. Fortunately, multiple other outlets have recognized those athletes for their contributions this season and Kansas Pregame will consider each of them for feature coverage in our 2022 Football Preview along with the many other top returning players from across the state.