Jackson 'D' dominates again with honors

~ The Indians placed seven players on the All-Southeast Missourian defensive squad.

During the 17 seasons Carl Gross has been the head football coach at Jackson High School the philosophy has remained the same: pound the ball on the ground and stymie opposing teams with a hard-nosed defense.

The Indians used that formula to success once again this season, putting together a 6-4 season behind a defense which allowed just 13.9 points a game. Jackson held opponents to 20 points or less in all but three games, and posted shutouts in two of three conference games.

Jackson's defense, which dominated opponents at times, also dominated the All-Souheast Missourian team, claiming seven of the 12 spots on the defensive squad.

"Our defense had just an outstanding year," Gross said. "Our defense kept us in every game."

The veteran defensive unit was nearly entirely filled with seniors. Jackson had eight first-team defensive all-conference players, including four listed at first-team linebacker. Senior linebacker Brandon Beck led the Indians with 78 tackles, including 14 for loss. Fellow senior linebacker Drew Lowes finished with 13 tackles for loss and 10 sacks, and senior linebacker John Gray had 57 tackles, two sacks and three interceptions.

"They were just tenacious," Gross said of his linebackers. "They were unbelievable. They were all heat-seeking missiles. It was just pick your poison against them. People weren't able to run the football against them."

Perhaps the finest moment for the defensive unit came in a loss to Eureka. Eureka, a team known throughout the state for its running attack, was forced to pass the ball 23 times and did not have a rusher with more than 63 yards against the Indians. Of Eureka's 24 points, 14 came off fumble returns by its defense.

Jackson's worst defensive showing came in a 35-14 loss to Vianney. Vianney put up 51 points the following week in a win over DeSmet, which won the Class 6 state championship.

"When you think about it the team going for the Class 6 state championship, DeSmet, Vianney put up big numbers against them," Gross said. "Our defense gave up 35, but some of those scores came off offensive turnovers. We held Eureka to 10 points with two touchdowns coming off fumbles, and some of that same stuff happened against Summit."