JACKSON MAKES SURE SOLDAN STAYS WINLESS WITH 48-8 THUMPING

JACKSON -- Talk about your classic high school football mismatches.

That was certainly the case Friday night as Jackson's Indians played host to the winless Soldan Tigers from St. Louis.

Jackson made sure -- in a big way -- that the Tigers would not be heading back up Interstate 55 with their first victory of the season. The Indians cruised to a 48-8 victory in a game that could have been much, much more lopsided.

"We tried everything we could not to make it even worse than it was," said Jackson coach Carl Gross, whose squad led 42-8 with nearly four minutes still left in the third quarter. "We played everybody, which is always good. A lot of young kids got a chance to do some things."

The Indians improved to 3-4 with all-important district play opening next week at Poplar Bluff. Soldan fell to 0-6.

"We just totally dominated," Gross said. "We knew going in that we should probably win this game by a lot and that's exactly what happened. We really dominated on the line of scrimmage."

Jackson piled up 350 yards rushing and tacked on 72 passing for a total offensive output of 422 yards. The Indians had 20 first downs.

Soldan had only four yards rushing on 16 attempts as most of the Tigers' running plays lost yards. The visitors had 101 yards passing but completed only five of 20 attempts. Soldan had only five first downs -- and four of those came in the game's final six minutes when Jackson had long since cleared its bench.

Chris Freeman had a big game playing tailback for the second straight week in place of leading rusher Todd Wessel, who has missed the past two games with a groin injury.

Freeman, who began the season at quarterback, rushed for 178 yards on 26 carries. He scored a touchdown on a 3-yard run.

"Our line did a great job opening some huge holes, but it was a good game for Chris in only his second game at running back," said Gross, who expects to have Wessel back for Poplar Bluff.

Fullback Ryan Beltz added 54 yards on 11 carries and scored on a 1-yard run and added a conversion run.

Sophomore reserve tailback Joe Walter chipped in 64 yards on 10 carries and scored from 14 yards out.

Another reserve tailback, Elijah Hamilton, added a 2-yard touchdown.

Quarterback Andy Callis threw three touchdown passes: a 30-yarder to Harith Jones, a 7-yarder to Jones and a 5-yarder to Nathan McWilliams. Callis completed five of seven attempts for 72 yards.

"I thought we threw the ball effectively," said Gross.

Soldan's only touchdown came on a 36-yard pass from Jerron Payne to Javon West. With a two-point conversion, the Tigers forged an 8-8 with a little over four minutes left in the first quarter.

But the Indians were never threatened again, leading 28-8 at halftime and then letting just about everybody join the fun in the second half.

"I don't know how much you really get out of a game like this," Gross said. "But it's a feel-good game going into district. It's always good to win."