Jackson 49 West Jefferson 9

[Ironman92]

Jackson gets the home game. Need a win

West Jeff is well-coached with an excellent last 15 years. Jackson should prevail.

[Ironman99]

Won't be a easy but Ironmen gets a win .we play a tough schedule.

[WJfan4life]

last year for Jackson, they have a great program and fans there.

[Blackjack]

Jackson is down on talent this year compared to the last two years. They will need to play 4 complete quarters this week to pull off the much needed victory.

[Rolltanks]

I'll be pulling for west Jeff in this one idk if they can get it don or not. As far as Jackson goes I think they went too far on off. Playoff losses made them develope more of a passing game and they have a talented qb. But don't forget what made you a good team. Power run game and big strong kids. I like Jackson better running, using big tight ends and passing for tds when teams stack the box. It's good to pass but imo Jackson should get out of the spread. Good luck west Jeff!

[Inside/outside em]

I'm of a like mind on the spread. only use it when u need to (2:00 offense/down late in a game, etc). Called me old school, but I like pounding the rock, then play action to keep them honest. I'd rather be more like Bama than Oregon

[Poo Bear]

Jackson is down on talent this year compared to the last two years. They will need to play 4 complete quarters this week to pull off the much needed victory.

It may seem that way after going 19-1 last 2 seasons but Jackson is loaded in talent it's just young and inexperienced. Losing 9 starters and then losing 2 all state players in the returning class would cripple most programs . But Jackson is deep and does a great job of preparing young players . They still put a quality product on the field. This years seniors and working their butts off to keep Jackson winning as these youngsters grow up. So proud of all of them. Having said that this game will be another hard one. I will pick the Ironmen at home
28-21

[bman]

West Jeff is very well-coached but don't know if they have the horses. Jackson by 14.

[ironman02]

I agree with a lot of what has been said so far on this thread. This may be long-winded, but here's my take.

Jackson has been running a version of the spread for a few years now. In the past, though, it was still geared more toward spreading people out and running the football. The offense the last three years was tailored more to Hunter Sexton's skill set and he was a powerful runner with good speed. The run would set up the play-action passing game, and the offense was very successful. Now, Bryce Hall's strength is throwing the football. Jackson has gone from throwing the ball maybe 10-15 times (sometimes less) per game to throwing it 20-25 times per game. That's a tough adjustment to make and it takes a lot of reps to get the timing down and have the QB and receivers in sync.

Codey Roseberry and Chucky Morris are experienced offensive lineman, but many of the other guys are young and still learning. Because of that, Bryce has had to move around more than he would like and it led to some bad throws against Chillicothe that proved to be very costly. In the second half against Chillicothe, Jackson was able to establish the running game and they began to have success. A couple drives were killed by penalties or missed blocking assignments, but the Ironmen moved the football pretty well. Going forward, I think you're still going to see a lot of passing, but I feel like the offense will look more in sync as the younger guys up front gain valuable experience, and as the chemistry between Hall and his receivers continues to develop.

I think that it's possible that the success of the last couple seasons may have, in a sense, spoiled this team. They haven't had much energy in the 1st half the last two weeks, so I wonder if they may have just thought they could show up and things would be easy until they went to Wheelersburg in Week 5. Obviously, that was not the case, so now it's time to learn from the mistakes, pick up the intensity, and right the ship. This is one of the most difficult schedules that Jackson has ever played, so it's going to take four quarters of solid football every week. Not three, not two...four full quarters.

As mentioned above, the loss of two All-Ohio players in Billy Cooper and Raymon Potter is something that can't be overlooked. The team clearly has taken the "next man up" approach, as they should have. However, that does not change the fact the loss of those two guys is really hard to absorb. Potter and Cooper had played in about 35 games each over the last three years. They were extremely talented on both sides of the ball, they had been through the battles the last three seasons, and they were leaders on the field. Those intangibles are something that is extremely hard to replace, and the contributions that they had made to this team during their careers were pretty exceptional. I'm not trying to make excuses, because obviously you play the hand that you're dealt and every team deals with injuries/transfers, but losing two players (four starters) like those guys really makes the learning curve for the younger guys that much more difficult.

As for this week, West Jeff will provide a huge challenge for the Ironmen. It'll be good to be back at home, but I expect a hard-fought game. West Jeff lost to Mechanicsburg in Week 1, but MBurg is really good, and WJ seems to have rebounded nicely last week against Adena. This is a must-win game for Jackson, so I look for them to play with a sense of urgency and really bring the intensity the entire game. The staff will really challenge them to work hard this week and get things going in the right direction. Looking forward to seeing how the Ironmen respond to this adversity. Last year's loss in the regular season really helped them. We'll see if that happens again.

[Poo Bear]

Very good post . The fans may also be a little spoiled also . Winning 24 out of 25 regular season games and 3 playoff games last 2 years will do that. The positives are there is a lot of young talent getting experience who will be leaders for next years team. Jackson is super deep and next year throse freshmen , Sophs and juniors will get bigger and stronger . Jackson should be super deep . Having said that 2016 is about the seniors . So proud of Williams, Farley , Billy cooper , hall , frisby , Kirby , and all the seniors for your loyalty and leadership. You'll always be well respected Ironmen .

[Abe Froman]

Sounds like Jackson looking for an offensive identity from above posts.

[wrestlefan]

Did billy hurt his knee or is it rhe shoulder. Too bad he is out for football!

[JacksonSouthie]

Sounds like Jackson looking for an offensive identity from above posts.

It happens when your Dad is the Head Coach and knows the only way to play at the next level is to be able to throw the ball. Jackson has never had a pro-style QB back there just picking teams apart. Jackson QBs are groomed from peewee league up to be running backs, most being the former. The kid is a good thrower, unfortunately that's just not what Jackson historically does. Never has...

[Poo Bear]

Sounds like Jackson looking for an offensive identity from above posts.

It happens when your Dad is the Head Coach and knows the only way to play at the next level is to be able to throw the ball. Jackson has never had a pro-style QB back there just picking teams apart. Jackson QBs are groomed from peewee league up to be running backs, most being the former. The kid is a good thrower, unfortunately that's just not what Jackson historically does. Never has...

[Ironman92]

Sounds like Jackson looking for an offensive identity from above posts.

It happens when your Dad is the Head Coach and knows the only way to play at the next level is to be able to throw the ball. Jackson has never had a pro-style QB back there just picking teams apart. Jackson QBs are groomed from peewee league up to be running backs, most being the former. The kid is a good thrower, unfortunately that's just not what Jackson historically does. Never has...

Humphreys and Morgan both surpassed 1,000 yards multiple times. It was still run based but plenty of passing.

Of course they are groomed to run in pee wee. Not many 10 year old gunslingers

[JacksonSouthie]

That's two quarterbacks in 30 years and 1,000 yards passing is nothing. Morgan started for 4 years from what the older guys tell me, and really didn't start throwing it around until his Senior year when Ryan Reid transferred. Humphrey's was just an all around great athlete that ultimately chose to play baseball. Just saying no one in Jackson is grooming a gunslinger. Going from throwing 5-10 times a game to throwing 15-20 times a game is a huge difference in high school ball.

[ironman02]

It happens when your Dad is the Head Coach and knows the only way to play at the next level is to be able to throw the ball.

Does this mean advancing further in the playoffs, or are you talking about being able to play college football?

[Stone Cold]

As a coach you dont base your offensive scheme off what the program has done in the past. You base it off of the personnel you have any given year. You try to put your kids in the best possible position to be successful. Haven't seen Jackson this year but maybe they cant line up and run it down your throat this year? I am sure coach hall has a reason behind the change in philosophy other than the fact that his kid is qb? Right?

[Ironmen44]

Jackson doesn't have a power run game this year. Both backs are not power backs and the QB is not a runner, thus we need to pass more.

[ironman02]

As a coach you dont base your offensive scheme off what the program has done in the past. You base it off of the personnel you have any given year. You try to put your kids in the best possible position to be successful. Haven't seen Jackson this year but maybe they cant line up and run it down your throat this year? I am sure coach hall has a reason behind the change in philosophy other than the fact that his kid is qb? Right?

Correct, in my opinion. It's about playing to the strength of this year's team and trying to win football games. Simple as that.

Obviously the transition has been difficult so far, but I definitely believe that the offense will start clicking.