Fox’s breakout performance heads Jackson in big senior night win against Holt

Jackson made all the plays when they mattered most, holding the visiting Holt Indians to their lowest-scoring game of the season en route to a 48-20 win.

With Jackson celebrating its senior night, emotions ran high early as Holt pushed out to an early 6-0 lead after scoring on its opening drive. From that point on, however, Jackson went on a 41-7 run to seize momentum and put the Indians on ice.

With the win, Jackson improved to 7-1 on the season, having won its past seven games after a season-opening loss at Edwardsville. Holt dropped to 5-3 after allowing a season-high 48 points.

“For having an uptick in competition, I’m proud of our kids,” Jackson coach Ryan Nesbitt said. “It’s a big win. There are things we could have done better in all phases, but all-in-all I’m proud of our boys to get a big win on senior night.”

Quarterback Adrian Fox made the most of his senior night, passing for 194 yards while rushing for another 136, ending his night with 330 total yards to go with three rushing touchdowns. The hosts scored seven touchdowns in the game, all over the ground.

On a near-perfect night in the backfield, with the team averaging 6.4 yards per rush, Jackson put together a concise effort to take down a tough Holt defense that previously hadn’t allowed more than 35 points in a game this season.

“Man, I’ll just say that we have a great backfield,” Jackson senior running back Jason Goodman said. “Great team, great offensive line. We executed, we did our jobs and we came out with the win today.”

After Holt’s game-opening score, Jackson responded with an 87-yard touchdown drive and Fox’s first touchdown to claim the lead at 7-6. The quarterback followed with another rushing score on his next drive after a Holt punt to up the lead to 14-6.

Altenthal’s wildcat touchdown gave Jackson a 20-6 lead. Soon after, the Jackson defense forced Holt into a turnover on downs after picking up a first down at the Jackson 2-yard line.

Holt came back with a 14-yard touchdown run from Josh Comstock to cut the lead to just seven, but Fox responded by scoring his third and final rushing touchdown of the day with just 65 seconds left in the first half to give the Indians a 27-13 edge heading into the locker room.

After Jackson elected to receive the opening kickoff, Holt got the ball out of the half and opened the third quarter by throwing an interception to Jackson junior Tyson Ford, his second of the season.

Sustaining a concussion in the season-opening matchup with Edwardsville after grabbing his first career interception, Ford made light of his pick on Friday night.

“It's nice to remember getting an interception this time,” Ford joked. “We’ve got some things we can work on, but you’ve got to take advantage of the opportunities you have.”

Jackson soon tacked on another two scores, both from freshman running back Jaylon Hampton as he scored from 25 and 3 yards out respectively to up the Indians’ lead to 41-13. He rushed for 105 yards in the win, the most by any player not named Adrian Fox.

Holt took the ball late in the fourth and scored on a swift 59-yard drive, capped off by a rushing touchdown from Xavier Adams, to cut the lead to 41-20, but Jackson immediately drove back down the field and got a 9-yard rushing touchdown from Zach Crump for the final score.

While not the most eye-popping night on the back end of the ball, Jackson’s defense stepped up to the challenge and held a tough Holt team to its lowest output of the year.

In the first year under the defense-minded Nesbitt, Jackson’s defensive veterans speak highly of the unit as it continues to merge into one of the tightest-knit collectives in the state.

“The connections last year were tough,” Jackson senior defensive lineman Hayden Wessell said. “We just weren't like a unit. This year is a lot different. I feel like all of us are connected well, and we all just get along great.”

Jackson defended “The Pit” on Friday night, making the most of the Indians’ senior night with a big revenge win against a Holt team that downed them 34-21 last year.

The regular-season finale for Jackson ended with a 48-20 win against a tough club from up north. For such a talented senior class, an undefeated regular season at home has come and gone as the Indians celebrate a big win.

“We only get one senior night, so it’s definitely emotional,” Fox said. “We always look forward to it in our underclassmen years. Whenever you get to it, you’ve just got to play your heart out.”

Jackson next travels to Festus (6-2) to play against a tough Tigers team that defeated Farmington 42-0 on Friday night.

While the Indians dominated Festus last season, winning 52-0 at home, the process is still the same as they head north to face off against a highly-touted team that’s only lost to Valle Catholic and Hillsboro this year.

“It starts with us. We're still trying to grow, we're still trying to get better,” Nesbitt said. “They're a good football team. They've got some things that they're doing really, really well. We'll get started with the preparation process, but we’ve got to enjoy tonight.”