Jackson football players watch double feature

~ Indians watch film on their win over Eureka, then observe footage on formidable Parkway West.

Members of the Jackson football team were going to spend Monday afternoon watching film of Friday night's thrilling 21-20 victory over second-ranked Eureka.

Jackson coach Carl Gross then was going to put that film on the shelf and get his players focused on this Friday's game at Parkway West.

"I'm going to show them this film from Friday of Parkway West, and that's going to get their attention real quick," Gross said.

The Longhorns (5-3) beat Seckman 42-0 on Friday night as Tyler Gabbert threw three touchdown passes.

Gabbert is a 6-foot sophomore, while his older brother, Blaine, is considered among the top college quarterback prospects in the country.

"His little brother is an awful good quarterback," Gross said. "And big brother is getting re-evaluated today."

Blaine Gabbert, a 6-5 senior who has made a commitment to attend Nebraska and has an official visit there planned for next month, has passed for 614 yards this season. He had separated a shoulder in the fifth game of the season, a 37-14 loss to Parkway Central, and may be available for Friday's game.

Jackson came through its victory with some injuries that also required some further evaluation.

Running back Adam Zweigart injured his forearm during Jackson's second touchdown drive of the first half. He finished the game with 26 carries for 108 yards, taking some snaps at quarterback, but making his only passing attempt -- which was intercepted -- on a halfback pass.

"When you carry the ball 26 times, it's tough on you," Gross said. "Thank goodness we've got a backup as good as Cody Randen. Those two gave as good as they got it to get the extra yardage."

Zweigart, who was battling flu-like symptoms against Eureka, originally thought his injury might be a fracture, while Jackson trainers thought perhaps it was a bruise and recommended X-rays as a precaution. Luckily for the Indians, the arm is not fractured.

Tyler Martin played only in a limited role on special teams Friday night, but Gross believes the senior linebacker will play more as the season continues.

Jackson last week was uncertain whether senior defensive end Adam Collier would be able to play in the game due to a shoulder injury. He finished with eight tackles and made an athletic play in the third period by first batting a pass up in the air and then catching it.

"We were sure proud," Gross said. "I don't think we could have chained him to a log pole and kept him out of this one. When he gets going, he is hard to handle."

Jackson has plenty of those kinds of players on its defense.

Junior linebacker Blake Peiffer had 14 tackles, including a sack; sophomore Cole Rodgers had nine tackles, including a sack; and junior Drew Bucher had seven tackles, including two sacks. Also with seven tackles were junior defensive lineman Kevin Pridemore; senior linebacker Jamie Schumacher; senior defensive back Cody Randen; and senior defensive back Matt Lang, who made the interception that ended Eureka's last drive. Senior lineman Antonio Garritano and junior lineman Jacob Bullinger each had six tackles, and junior Jake Wren had five tackles and two fumble recoveries.

"Our kids were just really focused and played really hard," Gross said. "We told them 'You have to stay focused on every snap' and we were tenacious all night. Every time you looked up, it looked like we had six or seven guys around the football. It was a great football game for these kids.

"Now, they need to forget about it. Parkway West is a good football team and it has started coming together for them."