Jackson defense looks to build on opening shutout

~ The Indians will make their home debut tonight against Parkway North.

The Jackson defense recorded a shutout in its season opener last week against a talented Francis Howell Central offense, but coach Carl Gross said he will receive a better picture of how strong the group is tonight.

The defensive strategy focused much of its energy on stopping one talented Howell Central receiver last week. But this week, the coaching staff has dissected the entire Parkway North offense, which posted 56 points against Central in Week 1.

"Last week we knew it was going to be Pierre Desir that was going to be the big, main weapon for Howell Central, but really this week we have to defend the field," Gross said. "It will be a true test of our defense. With Parkway North, it's its schemes more than players. They do a real good job of distributing the ball."

Parkway North will try to run the ball with tailback Jacob McKinley, and quarterback Brian Fincannon frequently throws play-action passes into the flat to fullback Chuck Gray, as well as his tight ends and receivers.

"A lot of the long pass plays that they have are that they throw a 5-yard route and turn it into a 55-yard run after the catch, so it looks like a 60-yard completion," Gross said. "We've got to keep them in front of us. The big thing is to not get out of position. Because they run the football effectively, they run a lot of play pass. We're going to have to be disciplined enough not to chase play fakes."

The Indians lacked some of that discipline last year when they lost to Parkway North, 29-25.

"We got to stop the big plays," Jackson defensive coordinator Van Hitt said. "[Last year,] they beat us because of three big plays and they were all pass plays. Two of them they caught in the flat. And the other was on a quarterback scramble and the cornerback came up to make the tackle and left his man. And the quarterback just [tossed it over him]."

Hitt said the Vikings will try to establish the run early, and then start mixing in some short passes to catch the Jackson defense off guard. He has told his linebackers and other defensive players to read the linemen and the backfield to see if it is a pass block or run block.

Parkway North's offense uses multiple formations, including the I-formation.

Fincannon only completed four passes against Central, which Hitt said was due to the Vikings' big lead.

"If they can run the football to beat you, they will," he said.

As for the Jackson offense, Gross said it needs to be more focused after turning the ball over four times last week. It had two fumbles and two interceptions. The Indians rushed for more than 200 yards, but only scored eight points. He said 10 penalties also hurt the offense.

"We sat down and watched our film, and we rushed for over 200 yards and we've got receivers wide open, but we've got one guy jump off sides here and a couple delay of games, the clip, and another offsides," Gross said. "We want the quarterback [Marcus Harris] making some better decisions throwing the football. One of them [interceptions] was the quarterback's fault and other in my opinion was the receiver's fault."

Gross said many of Harris' mistakes were made in the first half and probably the result of him pressing too much because he was excited in his first varsity game.

"Those are things he is going to learn from and not want to repeat," Gross said.