By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
One of the best football players in St. Joseph is continuing his playing career at the college level in his hometown.
Lafayette quarterback Jaron Saunders announced Friday his verbal commitment to the Missouri Western football team after receiving an offer from the Griffons' coaching staff on November 30.
He went on his official visit to the campus on December 3.
"I was very pumped when I got the offer," Saunders said. "I talked with my family about it and I was like, 'My dream of going here, this is where I want to be. Still getting to play in front of that St. Joe crowd is going to be amazing.'"
Saunders led a potent Lafayette offense that scored 50 or more points three times this past fall, and helped the Irish finish with a 6-4 record and earn a first-round bye in the Class 4 District 8 tournament in coach Ryan Shroyer's inaugural season as the head man.
Saunders finished 2021, completing 60 percent of his passes for 2,290 yards and 20 touchdowns, while also rushing for 315 yards and nine scores. He managed all of this, despite missing three games with injury.
The most memorable game was likely the first one, when Lafayette went on the road to Atchison and scored a 50-21 win - a game in which Saunders threw for a state record 698 yards. Receiver Kingston Oliver had 398 receiving yards that night - also a state record.
"I mean, we had a great season overall," Saunders said. "We had a lot of big games, a lot of close games. Really, just an overall great feeling, knowing that we could give Coach Shroyer his first winning season as a head coach.
"It's always a good feeling when you can leave your senior year with a winning record and with a state record. I mean, that still seems surreal to me. Like, it doesn't even seem like it's true even to this day. But, overall, it's always a great feeling knowing you can always leave your senior year with a winning record."
Saunders joins a Missouri Western football program that's enjoyed a solid run of success under head coach Matt Williamson, who just concluded his third consecutive winning season in 2021.
"They've really just changed that program around to a winning program," Saunders said of Williamson's staff. "They have one of the highest team GPAs in the MIAA and DII. Like, that's one of the biggest things that stands out to me is, they don't just care about you do on the field. They care about what you do in the classroom as well, and that's always what I've wanted going to a college."
Saunders says he plans to enter the nursing program at Missouri Western - a school that he believes values academics just as much, if not more, than athletics.
"That was one of the main things that I was excited about," he said. "We talked about it, and they said it will work great with the nursing program out there and everything will work out okay. So, it's going to be a lot of studying for me, but I think I can handle it. I'm a pretty good student."
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.