Playoffs D3R9 #8 Bishop Watterson vs. #4 Jackson

[doubleplay643]

Sounds good, they have a great atmosphere and for being in a residential area parking is not really a hassle. Good venue.

Let's go Ironmen

[Ironman92]

I've been fortunate enough to have attended this regional semi round every time Jackson has been good enough to make it there. Of the 6 times (I think...I'm getting old and might misremember some stuff) the only time Jackson has won this round was also the only time they were more physical than the other team (and T.J. Turner single-handedly made it close)

Hillsboro....outside of the scariest high school player that I have ever witnessed, Jackson was far more physical all over the field.

Youngstown East....bleh (screw that game)...they were a bit more physical and wore us down to where we had trouble tackling in the 4th quarter

Kings Mills....just physically dominated us

Glen Este....felt like we could win it all after beating title contender Taft, Glen Este just manhandled us.

Johnathan Alder....we hit with them and played with the necessary chip but wasn't enough. Alder was consistently more physical.

DeSales....same as Alder, we had the chip and played as physical as they could, but not as much as DeSales

The effort and intensity the last two of these under Hall and staff has me feeling comfortable that Jackson will bring it and a lot of these kids were on the field week 12 last year.

This all being said guys like Sexton, Conley, Cooper, Potter and Massie really need to deliver the blows. Again a good sign is that they have all year and are tough-nosed football players.

No holding out or hiding anything from a potential week 13 opponent. No worry of hurt feelings...hot guy gets the ball and everyone be ready. All out all or nothing this Friday. Take the next step boys.

Jackson 21
Watterson 13

[ironman02]

TJ Turner was definitely unbelievable. Like you said, he single-handedly kept Hillsboro in that game against Jackson. He had to have made at least 20 tackles that night. Probably the best high school LB I have seen in person.

I felt like Jackson let one get away against Youngstown East, but East was definitely a physical team and PJ Mays was very hard to tackle. I think he went to play at YSU and was very successful.

I also thought that Jackson went toe-to-toe with Alder in 2011, but made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes. Probably trying a little too hard to make extraordinary plays, rather than just executing. Think the Ironmen had three drives of more than 15 plays and came away with zero points in those drives because of turnovers or penalties. Same kind of thing can probably be said for the game last year against DeSales. Just a couple missed assignments on defense and a turnover when Jackson was threatening to score turned the tide against them. In both cases, the opponent did wear them down in the 4thQ though.

Definitely outmatched against Kings and Glen Este after beating Mt. Healthy and Withrow.

Watterson has an outstanding defense, but they have struggled to score all season. If the Jackson defense can play well, I think this could be a really good game. Jackson's program has been on the rise, but in order to get to the next level, I agree that this is a game that they HAVE to win.

[Roadhog]

No doubt about it Jackson has got to get that second round monkey off there back.This will be a close defense game. Jackson by 7

[Ironman92]

No doubt about it Jackson has got to get that second round monkey off there back.This will be a close defense game. Jackson by 7

Not sure it's a monkey because outside of Youngstown East we were the underdogs.

But yes to take the next step they need to beat Watterson Friday

[X8XOHIOLEGENDX7X]

Keep it going for SEO jackson.

[noreply66]

Come on Ironmen...A lot of people will doubt and a lot of haters out there . You're only one of a few southern Ohio teams still playing football. Give it you best shot !

Wheelersburg, Jackson, Zane Trace, Valley, Alexander, Paint Valley, Trimble are more than a few.

[kuruguru]

Good night, Ironmen.

It was a good run.

[doubleplay643]

I92 & ironman02 those are good recaps above of Jackson’s previous semi-final match-ups.

I do not have the iron-trap memory of I92 (plus I was a Hocking County resident in the 90’s) so I didn’t see the Hillsboro, Kings Mills or Youngstown games, but I pretty much agree with the Alder and DeSales’ games assessment above.

Drew Pasteur has had Bishop Watterson as the #2 team in Region 9 now for most of the year behind DeSales, so most everyone knows this #8 seed is more of a Harbin point anomaly than a true “ranking”, and a lot if not most people predicted the #8 over #1 seed “upset” last week with Hamilton Township.

For what it is worth here is my take on this week’s Jackson match-up with Bishop Watterson.

They are not going to beat themselves, they play (at least so far it seems) a very conservative game offensively and simply smother you on defense. The films I have seen on BW vs. Hartley, Winton Woods and HT even if they are inside the 40 yard line on a 4th and 2 or 3 they are punting and playing field position. While most High School teams would probably go for it they pin you and play defense and wait for a mistake and a short field. They may not score a lot of points but they take advantage offensively of mistakes that their defense creates.

The LOS for Watterson on both sides of the ball is considerably larger than the Ironmen, which if you are familiar with Jackson has been the case all 11 games we have played thus far. Typically, it is not a big deal as we are very effective each way with the personnel we have, but this week there is a lot of depth to Watterson at the LOS. Cooper at a buck-80 soaking wet will sleep well after this game is over as he will be wore out, but there is not a person with more heart than that kid (not to mention everyone else on the line) so he and everyone else I feel will see their toughest match-up this year at the LOS this week with regard to both size and depth.

I am not sure how much success we will have on the mid-line option given the above which has been our bread and butter and is used to open things up elsewhere, but think there is some yards to be had on the edge, and I think there is some opportunity to have some success through the air as well.

As an analogy I think Watterson is “comparable” to the DeSales 2014 team we faced last year in Week 12. DeSales 2015 this year as compared to last year is clearly better and most people have them picked to win the region and Drew Pasteur has them picked to lose to Cleveland Benedictine in the shoe in Week 15.

So, last year was good experience, let’s face it when someone says Bishop Watterson or DeSales, you are talking about programs that have won it all, so by virtue of competing last year with DeSales I think the kids know there is no reason they can’t compete this year. I believe there is some subtle differences between last year’s and this year’s Ironmen squad, but there are more similarities than differences.

Field position and penalties or mistakes I think will play an important role. We may have to settle for field goals given their defense, but I think we are in good position to score points that way from 40-yds and in if needed.

This should be a good game and the Ironmen despite all the naysayers out there can and should be expected to compete well in this game.
Go Ironmen!

[grndma1]

Good Luck Ironmen. Proud of the way you've played this year and excited to continue to cheer you on. GO JACKSON!!!!!!!!

[Raider6309]

Watterson defense reminds me of Akron SVSM. Held Desales to 3 points after 3 quarters of play. They seem to play very conservative

[Strike3]

The Sky will be looking a little bit red come Friday night! The Southern Storm rolling into Chillicothe.

[greygoose]

Watterson with a tough defense and has played quite a schedule, Jackson hopefully will pull out that Wheelersburg tape and use it to help them this week. Burg just shut down the Ironmen and Watterson has that same capability must find a way to move the ball, play mistake free football. Think the ball will take a couple bounces Jackson's way this week and I'll take Jackson by 10 in a low scoring affair.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

GOOD LUCK TO THE JACKSON IRONMEN.

[LHS 72]

Go with the SEOAL Jackson in a close battle!

[Hugh Jase]

Going with the local team! Go Jackson!!

[Paladin]

Watterson. Expect it to be a DeSales vs. Watterson Regional Final.

[Old*rocket]

Coach Hall will have his Boys ready to compete.
Got to go with jackson in a hard hitting close game.

[Tjhtygeverve]

I'm really hoping to see Jackson advance. Waters on is always tough & plays a great preparatory schedule, so that gives them the edge, but Jackson could pull this off!!

[96stroker]

17-13Jackson