Final: Jackson 31 Athens 26

[Matt77]

Athens lost a heart breaker last week. They’ll lose again. I’ll Jackson.

[BigBen]

Big Jackson win. Parks will be back and hungry. Put that with Spires, Graham, Icenhower, Prater, Daily, a determined D line and an improving O line.
Jackson by 14.

[doubleplay643]

Anyone have the Athens and Jackson rushing and passing stats from last weeks games against Waverly and Wellston?

[Ironman92]

Anyone have the Athens and Jackson rushing and passing stats from last weeks games against Waverly and Wellston?

Rushing

Spires 18 for 156 TD
Graham 14 for 102 TD
Johnson 6 for 24
Prater 1 for 4
Icenhower 9 for -9

Receiving

Prater 3 for 46 TD
Dailey 2 for 10
Spires 1 for 5
Winters 1 for 3

Passing

Icenhower 7-18 64 yds 1 TD, 2 INT

[Ironman92]

Big Jackson win. Parks will be back and hungry. Put that with Spires, Graham, Icenhower, Prater, Daily, a determined D line and an improving O line.
Jackson by 14.

I’ll add Johnson and Winters on offense

[JohnDenver]

Anyone have the Athens and Jackson rushing and passing stats from last weeks games against Waverly and Wellston?

Rushing

Spires 18 for 156 TD
Graham 14 for 102 TD
Johnson 6 for 24
Prater 1 for 4
Icenhower 9 for -9

Receiving

Prater 3 for 46 TD
Dailey 2 for 10
Spires 1 for 5
Winters 1 for 3

Passing

Icenhower 7-18 64 yds 1 TD, 2 INT

With those passing stats it may be closer than what I think. Does Jackson have a back like Waverly's or are they more downhill type backs? If not I think Jackson will need to have some sort of a passing game to win this one. I'll take Jackson 24-21.

[doubleplay643]

80% or so it looks like on the ground, no surprise there. 18 passing attempts I wonder if we will throw that much Friday (maybe 1/2 that?) although just depends on the Athens defense I suppose. But if we are getting 7-8 yards a rush with Spires or Graham or Johnson probably just gonna live right there.

What was the Athens QB stats last week? How many attempts and/or yards rushing? Any Athens posters have that? I hear the young man is very solid and a dual threat type of kid.

[Poo Bear]

Anyone have the Athens and Jackson rushing and passing stats from last weeks games against Waverly and Wellston?

Rushing

Spires 18 for 156 TD
Graham 14 for 102 TD
Johnson 6 for 24
Prater 1 for 4
Icenhower 9 for -9

Receiving

Prater 3 for 46 TD
Dailey 2 for 10
Spires 1 for 5
Winters 1 for 3

Passing

Icenhower 7-18 64 yds 1 TD, 2 INT

Good night for spires and graham . I liked Johnson an that quick hitter . All run hard after contact

[Ironman92]

Anyone have the Athens and Jackson rushing and passing stats from last weeks games against Waverly and Wellston?

Rushing

Spires 18 for 156 TD
Graham 14 for 102 TD
Johnson 6 for 24
Prater 1 for 4
Icenhower 9 for -9

Receiving

Prater 3 for 46 TD
Dailey 2 for 10
Spires 1 for 5
Winters 1 for 3

Passing

Icenhower 7-18 64 yds 1 TD, 2 INT

With those passing stats it may be closer than what I think. Does Jackson have a back like Waverly's or are they more downhill type backs? If not I think Jackson will need to have some sort of a passing game to win this one. I'll take Jackson 24-21.

They are more downhill but there are 4 of them thatvare legit backs that can get it done. Spires the best.

[Ironman92]

80% or so it looks like on the ground, no surprise there. 18 passing attempts I wonder if we will throw that much Friday (maybe 1/2 that?) although just depends on the Athens defense I suppose. But if we are getting 7-8 yards a rush with Spires or Graham or Johnson probably just gonna live right there.

What was the Athens QB stats last week? How many attempts and/or yards rushing? Any Athens posters have that? I hear the young man is very solid and a dual threat type of kid.

I read on here somewhere he had like 38 passes and 26 rushes. That’s impressive. Running 26x he’s gonna be pretty sore if he runs that much against us. I’ll tip my cap though if he does.

[Vik]

Is the Winters kid the 16 year old sophomore?

[ShoeHorn]

Athens Passing vs Waverly
Joey Moore 24-38-1-278 3 TDs
Athens Rushing vs Waverly
Joey Moore 26-60, Peyton Gail 5-57 TD, Corbin Stalder 5-51, Nate Trainer 3-21
Athens Receiving vs Waverly
Nate Trainer 6-55, Corbin Stalder 4-53 TD, Reece Wallace 3-45 TD, Peyton Gail 7-42, Braeden Halbert 1-42 TD, Brayden Markins 3-41

[Ironman92]

77 plays...whew

Jackson better keep them under 65

[Poo Bear]

Only stat that matters is W or L.

[RioProf]

Is the Winters kid the 16 year old sophomore?

14 year old freshmen

[Vik]

Is the Winters kid the 16 year old sophomore?

14 year old freshmen

oh, wow I saw him intercept that ball and though he was a good size boy. Never would’ve guessed he was 14 haha

[Poo Bear]

Is the Winters kid the 16 year old sophomore?

14 year old freshmen

oh, wow I saw him intercept that ball and though he was a good size boy. Never would’ve guessed he was 14 haha

He’s gonna be special

[noreply66]

Jackson gets the bugs out of the Offense in this one.

[Trevorstephens22]

By PAUL BOGGS

Athens vs Jackson

Truth be told, these two should always be on each other’s schedules.

Two long-time and old-guard, Southeastern Ohio Athletic League rivals renew their series starting on Friday night – as the Jackson Ironmen and Athens Bulldogs square off once again on the gridiron.

And, as usual with these two tradition-rich programs, there is plenty of interest and intrigue.

In a key early-season and now non-league encounter, Jackson travels to Athens with the potential of plenty of playoff points at stake.

The two have not played since a home-and-home series in 2012 and 2013, in which the Bulldogs – with current LSU quarterback and 2014 Ohio Mr. Football Joe Burrow leading them – won 21-14 (2012) and 49-0 (2013).

The two schools were charter members of the SEOAL which formed in 1925, but Athens left the league for the Tri-Valley Conference after the 2007 season – and the question has lingered since as to why they don’t play as non-conference opponents every year.

They actually did in the 2011 Division III playoffs, as both clubs entered after perfect regular seasons, with the Ironmen capturing a 27-7 victory.

But enough with past history, the focus for Friday night is the here and now inside Rutter Field in The Plains. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

The new-look Bulldogs, with new QB Joey Moore, bolted out to a 27-14 second-quarter advantage against the host Waverly Tigers.

But the Tigers shut out Athens in the second half, scoring the final 17 points to prevail 30-27 in both squads’ season openers.

Moore did his part, completing 24 passes on 38 attempts for 278 yards and a hat trick of touchdowns with one interception.

He added 60 rushing yards on 26 carries.

But the Bulldog defense didn’t stop the Tigers, specifically Waverly standout running back Payton Shoemaker.

Shoemaker shredded Athens’ run defense for 201 yards and four scores on 25 carries, scoring from 25, 22 and 18 yards away.

Athens also allowed 160 yards through the air on 26 attempts and 15 completions by Tiger quarterback Hayden Shanks.

On Friday, that high-powered Athens offense – engineered by Moore and coordinated by first-year head coach Nathan White – faces an extremely stingy Jackson defense, anchored by returning senior Brice Parks.

Parks, the reigning Southeast District Defensive Player of the Year, returns to the Ironmen after serving a one-game suspension in the season opener.

But the Ironmen didn’t miss Parks against archrival Wellston, as Jackson – in the final meeting between the long-running Jackson County rivals – stymied the Golden Rockets to only 48 total yards and did not allow an offensive touchdown.

The Red and White won 23-6, spearheaded by three first-half interceptions of Wellston quarterback R.J. Kemp.

The Ironmen ended the series scoring when they sacked Kemp in the end zone for a fourth-quarter safety.

But Jackson’s offense struggled somewhat – outside of scoring on two long first-half runs.

Jayden Spires (156 yards on 18 carries) scampered for 52 yards for the first, followed by Brice Graham (98 yards on 15 carries) galloping 51 yards for the other.

Jackson coach Andy Hall hailed his Ironmen’s defensive play, but indeed acknowledged inconsistency on offense, which must be improved in order to succeed against Athens.

Many observers are predicting a close and competitive contest, with a final score ranging in the low 20s or even high teens.

Both clubs are quite capable of big plays, but the marquee matchup will definitely be the Bulldogs’ offense against the Ironmen’s defense.

[countywide35]

nice write up by mr. paul boggs