St. James linebacker Sterling Jones has led the Trojans to a Class 4A first round playoff matchup at Montevallo Thursday with his hard hitting and film study.

St. James’ Sterling Jones pushes over lineman Blake Underwood during a recent practice. The Trojans aim to repeat as region champions.

And he’s picked up a few offers along the way.

The 6-foot-1, 225-pound junior has added offers from Michigan and Cincinnati to his list that includes Florida, Louisville, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky.

“(My top priority is) playing time. How I gel with the coaches and players. Just the scheme of things,” Jones said.

Coming out of nowhere to the No. 24 rated player in the state by 247 Sports, Jones has turned to former teammate and current Auburn tight end for advice.

“I went to Auburn last weekend, hung out with Jalen a little bit,” Jones said. “Just looking up to Jalen and seeing how he took things, I just follow his footsteps. If you don’t have that, you don’t know what to expect.”

St. James coach Jimmy Perry is looking to Jones to lead the Trojans defense against a 10-2 Montevallo team that averages 37 points per game.

“He’s our mike linebacker, and anybody’s mike linebacker is the anchor of the defense,” Perry said. “We basically turn everything to him. We either spill it to him, or we turn the ball back to him. He’s a force inside. He’s done a real good job for us.”