Football
Favorite athlete: Luke Kuechly
Favorite team: Commanders
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning on my Senior Night
Funniest/most embarrassing thing that has happened while competing in sports: Nothing that comes to mind.
Music on playlist: None
Future plans: Go to college and study business/marketing
Word to live by: “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”
One goal before turning 30: Have my own house.
One thing people don’t know about me: I’ve been playing football since I was six.
By GORDON GLANTZ
Out of the ashes of a Hatboro-Horsham football program that was fading into oblivion, the season that just ended with a district playoff loss to Plymouth Whitemarsh will go down as one of redemption.
It was the Hatters’ first playoff berth in 17 years.
The loss was still a win in the big picture.
“That was probably our biggest goal,” said Hatters’ coach Tom Butts, adding that playing an independent schedule negated a league title as a goal. “We knew we could make the playoffs. Literally, in the first meeting we had with the staff and the kids, we laid it out as the main goal. We wanted to get to the playoffs. We followed through on that goal.
“We pushed our kids this year as hard as I have ever pushed kids since I have been coaching. They brought it every day. They have been fantastic and have done everything we have asked of them. They didn’t complain. They showed up every day and just worked hard for us. It’s been a great experience for everyone involved.”
It would be safe to say that Butts had a lot of skin in the game. He came through the program as a water boy, player and assistant coach before stepping away to coach his own kids and then to coach at CB West – he will always remember the many players whose shoulder pads the program was redeemed upon.
Senior Roman Marinucci, a mainstay at defensive end who also played part-time at fullback and tight end. He had 37 tackles, four sacks and one interception before he broke his collar bone two games before the end of the season.
Junior Mason Bynum, the shutdown corner, always covering the other team’s best receiver in an era of spread offenses. He had 21 tackles, six pass breakups, and three interceptions (one returned for a touchdown). He was also one of the Hatters’ halfbacks/wide receivers with 63 carries for 471 yards (7.5 avg.) and eight touchdowns, and 13 receptions for 272 yards (21 avg.) and three touchdowns
And then there is the heart and soul of the team -- senior Jaxson Bumpus, the vintage middle linebacker/fullback who led the team in tackles but whose value went well beyond raw statistics.
“His football IQ is off the charts,” said Butts of Bumpus, who was tasked with holding on PATs and field goals and is also a top-shelf baseball player (first baseman, corner outfielder and pitcher). “He gets everyone in position. If there are down linemen not in position, he is moving them around. He has a done a fantastic job of buying into the scheme and understanding it and becoming a coach on the field.”
In many ways, picking up the defense on the fly was like learning a second language and becoming fluent in it for Bumpus.
“It was kind of a new defensive scheme this year,” he said. “We ran a lot of different things, as compared to last season.
“It was a lot of watching film, and a lot of getting the reps in on the field. It comes down to whatever I see, and whatever I see, I’ve got to call.”
Setting the Standard
Bumpus recalls the meeting where the goal of making the playoffs was put on the table.
Being a part of a struggling program since his freshman year, it seemed like a bit of a reach.
“When they first introduced the coaches, they said the goal for the season was to make the playoffs,” said Bumpus. “That was the expectation for the season.
“It definitely seemed like something that would be very hard to achieve, and not something that we were sure we could make. As we got more into the season, there was the realization that it could happen.”
The players were willing to chase the dream, and the program developed a new culture.
“I think it was really with this coaching staff coming in,” said Bumpus. “A lot more people on the team bought in to what we were doing, and we were a lot more determined to do it.
“I just tried to set an example and just do everything that I needed to do. I was just hoping that everyone would follow.”
While the preseason meeting was the starting point, Bumpus saw the real difference on the practice field.
“The realization was, ‘This is kind of different,’” said Bumpus. “It was just from the way they were really getting us coached up. It was just a different feel.”
Part of a different feel was more bodies, as the coaches and players worked together to get more players onto the field.
Still, it was a battle of attrition, and Bumpus was a 48-minute man down the stretch.
“It was definitely tiring at points, but it’s also always fun being out there as much as possible,” said Bumpus, who has been playing football his whole life but still isn’t sure which sport, if any, is in his collegiate future. “I would do anything for the team.”
It Takes a Village
In the classroom, Bumpus also tackles challenges and has a GPA in the 3.6-3.7 neighborhood. He is looking at majoring in business and/or marketing.
Because of his commitment to sports, there isn’t a lot of extra time for school-related activities, but he has volunteered for Special Olympics and helped out with Powder Puff Football.
He wanted to extend a special thank you to his father, John, for giving him a love of sports – and the Washington Commanders.
“My dad coached me when I was younger and has always supported me and has given me feedback on whatever I was doing,” said Bumpus, who also thanked his grandpa, Bill, for his vociferous support.
The shout-outs also extended to Butts and the rest of the coaching staff.
“All the coaches came out every day, pushed me and helped me become a better player,” said Bumpus, who played basketball until his freshman year.
The feeling of gratitude is shared by Butts, a physical education teacher at the school where seven members of the staff are in the building.
“They had won one game in the last (21) and maybe two games in the last four years,” said Butts, who was an assistant at H-H from 1998-2009. “They were struggling.
“It’s tough for me to say what happened. When I stepped away, I didn’t think it was my business to be involved in whatever it was that was going on. At that point, I’m just an outsider.”
As for the turnaround, he deflected a lot of the credit on to others – administrators, coaching staff and parents.
Mostly, though, it was on the players.
“We just coached them up and, to their credit, they just really bought in,” he said. “It’s been a fantastic experience for everyone. I mean, everyone has been great, and that’s in every aspect of the program. It’s been a really positive experience.”
And, if one player in the ultimate team embodied the about-face, it was the 6-0 and 195-pound Jaxson Bumpus.
“He brings it every day,” said Butts. “He’s just a lunch-pail kid. As much as a leader as he is for us and as much as the other kids know he is a leader for us, he is not a super vocal kid. He’s not rah-rah, and that type of thing. But, when he takes command of what we want to do, when we huddle up on defense, you can hear a pin drop when he’s talking. All the kids know he’s in charge out there.”
