Indians look to make next step

~ Jackson seeks its first sectional victory tonight against Hazelwood Central.

In recent years, Jackson's boys soccer program has had to play second fiddle to the girls team, which has been on a streak of five straight district titles.

The boys program has achieved some success of its own, including back-to-back district titles in 1997 and 1998, and is ready to take center stage this season 7 p.m. tonight, when the Indians square off against Hazelwood Central in the Class 3 sectionals at Farmington.

"I think that's been a little bit in the back of their heads at times," Jackson coach Zack Walton said of the girls' success. "There are a lot of motivating factors to it, and that's one of the small ones. They're well aware the girls had won five in a row, and they wanted to win one too. We were right there last year."

Jackson had been left with a bitter taste in its mouth after a 1-0 loss to Central in the district finals last year. The players made up their mind to make another run at a title this year, and they saw that through, beating Poplar Bluff 2-0 for the district crown.

"These boys have worked hard," Walton said. "I remember last year when we lost at district 30 minutes after the game, they were over it and looking toward next year. It's nice to see they put in time in the offseason to do it and it paid off."

The Indians made an early statement by reaching the finals of the Notre Dame Soccerfest for the second straight season. Jackson returned many of its starters from last year, and used that continuity to stay consistent throughout the season.

Yet the Indians have just five seniors, all of whom played a vital role in Jackson's success. Leading the way is goalie Tyler Holman, who has worked with senior defenders Chris Crossett and Derek Richardson. Forward Chris Shelton scored one of the district final goals, and Andrew Lorenz patrols the midfield.

"We have a senior goalie, two seniors in the back, a senior in the middle and a senior up top, so the seniors are pretty spread out," Walton said.

While the Indians can generate plenty of offense when needed, defense likely is their strength.

"That's something we've always stressed," Walton said. "Our defense has to help us stay in the game. The way we look at it, 11 guys are on the field, and 11 have to play defense. We try to have all our guys playing defense. That's something we try to drill in everyone's heads. It's not four guys playing defense."

Jackson's defense will be tested tonight. Hazelwood Central (19-5-2) has several big scorers, led by Benny Jeffery's 15 goals and 20 assists. Jason Kamp also has 15 goals, and Chris Beseau has 12 goals and 15 assists.

"They're extremely fast," Walton said. "We'll make a small adjustment for it, kind of like we did for Poplar Bluff. Other than that we won't do anything major. We'll just play our game. We'll continue to do what we've done. We'll play good possession, knock the ball around and play good defense."

A win tonight would give Jackson its first sectional win. Hazelwood Central holds a 14-14-1 all-time record in postseason play.

"It's going to be intense," Walton said. "You better be ready to play because you know they will. I think our boys are really excited. We've never had a team win this next game. That's something they really want to do. To be the first to set that mark."