Drew Parsons leads Jackson past Cape Central for ninth-straight win in rivalry

Before he began his first full season as the starting quarterback for the Jackson Indians, Drew Parsons got some sound advice from his coaching staff.

The tip that most stood out came from second-year head coach Ryan Nesbitt and quarterbacks coach Cooper Callis, who told him to “take a deep breath, slow the game down and just play football.”

Parsons heeded that mantra on Friday night in the biggest game of his high school football career as the junior led the Indians to a dominant 42-6 win of overmatched Cape Central on the road at Tigers Stadium.

“It was a really great win,” said Parsons, who celebrated his 17th birthday with the victory. “We knew that we had to come in and just go after these guys. They were a really good team leading up, and were 5-0 obviously. We just wanted to show up and play our game.”

With much anticipation leading up to the SEMO North showdown, Jackson continued to make one of the Bootheel’s top high school football rivalries a one-sided series with little suspense.

It was Parsons’ first taste of the rivalry under center, as he finished 14 for 17 passing on 226 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also showed a dash of his dual-threat ability, rushing for over 60 yards on six carries.

Nesbitt said afterward that he liked the way his team has battled adversity up to this point in the season, and Parsons’ poise was a textbook example of that.

“I told them after the game that football requires tough-minded people,” Nesbitt said. “It's a tough sport. It’s been a tough start to the year and I’m just proud of our resilience, our grit, and to come out, put one together and win emphatically.

“For Drew, I thought he competed and played hard. I'm just proud of him and his maturation. Because, like I said, playing football is hard, and playing quarterback at Jackson is difficult. He’s doing a nice job.”

Jackson (4-2, 3-0 in SEMO North) clinched the conference title after defeating Cape Central for the ninth year in-a-row. It was also the Indians’ 28th straight conference victory.

Nesbitt gives credit to the program’s consistency.

“These kids work at it year round — weight room, running, lifting, throwing,” he said. “So, Jackson football's been good well before I got here, and it'll be good well after I'm gone. It’s just a blessing to be the coach.”

The Tigers (5-1, 2-1 in SEMO North) will have to reset with three games remaining in the regular season after head coach Kent Gibbs fell to 0-5 in the rivalry, and the program lost to Jackson for the 11th time in 13 years.

Cape Central got off to a strong start, striking first on the second play of the game behind a Zai’Aire Thomas 70-yard touchdown reception to go up 6-0.

The Tigers followed that up with a pivotal turnover-on-downs before Jackson forced a Cape Central three-and-out, drove 78 yards down the field, and capitalized with a Zach Crump one-yard rushing touchdown to take a 7-6 edge.

After both teams traded turnovers off fumbles on the ensuing two possessions, Crump, who finished with over 40 rushing yards, punched it in the end zone for the second time.

Parsons’ fourth drive of the night was perhaps his sharpest. Faced with a fourth-and-1 at midfield, Parsons threw a laser to star wide receiver Kai Crowe on a slant pattern to move the chains. Several plays later, the Indian signal caller lofted a perfectly-placed back-shoulder ball to Crowe for a touchdown to make it a 21-6 ball game before the half.

“I saw his hand go up and I was like, ‘I’ve got to hit him,’” Parsons said. “Just full-on trust.”

The Indians turned the game into a rout by outscoring Cape Central 21-0 in the second half to earn a late cushion and put things out of reach.

Speedy sophomore Jaylon Hampton and Crump added late short-yardage rushing touchdowns, giving Jackson 42 points on a Tiger defense who was only allowing 4.4 per game leading up to the contest.

Cape Central failed to score off of Jackson’s three turnovers in the ball game and could not muster much offense behind its one-dimensional attack.

The Tigers entered the game averaging 318 rushing yards per game, but finished with less than half of that total. Boyd had a quiet night with just 50 rushing yards on eight carries, while Thomas racked up 77 of his own.

Senior quarterback Deklin Pittman was intercepted twice in the third quarter and did not pose much of a threat with his arm. Jackson seniors Tyson Ford and Gavin Alspaugh were credited with the interceptions for a ball-hawk Indians secondary that swarmed around the Tigers’ aerial attack all night.

Jackson sophomore Brock Reagan put the exclamation point on the win with a blocked punt at the Cape Central 10-yard-line on the first play of the final quarter.

Nesbitt said that he is impressed by his team’s growth up to this point in the season.

“It's a competitive group,” he said. “We’re young, but we're getting better every single week.”

Jackson will turn the page and travel to Sikeston next Friday, Oct. 11. Cape Central will look to bounce back when it travels to Farmington.