Jackson routs Cape Central for 8th straight win in rivalry

The Jackson Indians made their presence known early and often in a 50-0 trouncing of the Cape Central Tigers on Friday, Sept. 23 at “The Pit” in Jackson.

After coming up with a defensive stop, the Indians offense went to work as Jaylon Hampton found the end zone from six yards out to make it 7-0.

“We came out ready to play,” Indians coach Ryan Nesbitt said. “Our defense played really, really well in the first half. I thought we would play well. I didn’t know if we would play that well though.”

The Jackson defense kept coming as they forced a safety on the ensuing possession to make it 9-0.

Just 4 minutes into the first quarter, Jackson quarterback Adrian Fox found Blayne Harris in the back of the end zone, who made a leaping grab for a 19-yard touchdown to make it 15-0.

“Man, he is a great competitor,” Nesbitt said of Harris. “He’s got great length and ball awareness, and that comes from his time playing basketball. Again, he’s a great competitor and a fun one to work with.”

Harris said he channeled his inner basketball player on his leaping catch.

“I wasn’t really thinking much,” Harris said. “I was just going up like it was a rebound. I wanted to go up and get it, and that’s what happened.”

Fox’s solid night continued on the next drive, connecting with Kai Crowe from 25-yards out to increase the lead to 22-0.

“I thought he did a nice job of delivering (the throws),” Nesbitt said. “They were also some really nice catches.”

With the rout on, Drew Parsons took snaps under center and he made his mark, finding Harris from 18-yards out, giving Jackson a 36-0 lead.

Hampton found the end zone three times in the first half, all rushing touchdowns, to carry the offense.

“He’s gaining confidence,” Nesbitt said. “He’s still got things to work on, which is the encouraging thing when he’s having success like he’s having. He’s a dynamic player and doing a really nice job for us as a young guy.”

Every time Hampton has the ball, he runs with a force that is tough to take down.

“If I get tackled I’m going to get killed,” Hampton said. “That’s how I run.”

With the fireworks of the Jackson offense taking the headlines, the Indians defense stood tall, shutting out the Tigers offense.

“It starts up front,” Nesbitt said. “I thought our defensive line got off the ball and played well tonight. I thought we played hard, set good edges, and leveraged the football well.”

Because Jackson led 50-0 at halftime, Nesbitt was able to get his backups reps in the win.

“Those reps are really important,” Nesbitt said. “That's kind of what we're talking about there at the end is just for those guys to be ready to play. Those reps matter.”

With the continuous clock in effect, neither offense scored again, and the halftime score stood as the final.

Cape Central (2-3) is back in action at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29 when the Tigers host the Farmington Knights for homecoming at Cape Central High School.

Jackson (4-1) will host Sikeston at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29, at Jackson High School.