Three keys to Jackson football’s district title date with Seckman

The Jackson Indians opened the season with a heartbreaking loss at Edwardsville that came down to the final minute of regulation. Since then, first-year head coach Ryan Nesbitt has pushed the Indians to nine consecutive wins and a shot at a district title.

On Friday, Jackson loads up the buses and heads north to Imperial, Missouri, for a chance to win its first Class 6 district championship and the first in MSHSAA’s top class since 2001.

However, the Seckman Jaguars await the Indians with a stout 10-0 record after defeating Valle Catholic in Week 1 and cruising through an otherwise light schedule.

Jackson’s no stranger to this Seckman squad, having played the Jaguars twice between the 2019 and 2021 playoffs. The Indians won both matchups at “The Pit” by an average of 39.5 points, but a lot has changed since the playoffs of old.

Seckman’s unscathed record indicates that the Jaguars can beat most teams in Missouri. Ranked 34th in the state across all classes, Seckman has allowed just 6.5 points per game while providing plenty of offense to boot.

Here are three keys that can push Jackson to a district championship on Friday and into a Class 6 quarterfinal berth.

__1. Keep the fire lit defensively.__

After Jackson’s 6-4 season in 2022, including a district semifinal exit at home to archrival Poplar Bluff, the Indians parted ways with longtime head coach Brent Eckley and brought in Nesbitt, who has pushed the Jackson defense to new heights while maintaining a strong offensive front.

While the season started a little bit tough for Jackson on the back end of the ball, something seemed to click after falling into a 21-7 hole against Poplar Bluff. Holding the Mules scoreless for the final two quarters of their Week 4 matchup, Jackson’s defense has dominated since.

Dating back to Week 5 against Cape Central, Jackson has played four teams ranked among the top 100 teams in Missouri. The Indians allowed 11.8 points per game across those four games.

Last Friday, Jackson held Lindbergh to one of its lowest-scoring outputs of the season, including a scoreless first half. Despite some fear that Lindbergh could keep the pace with a strong running attack, Jackson neutralized this at the line of scrimmage.

Moving into a district final game against Seckman, Jackson will need to keep the energy high on defense.

__2. Find comfort in the pocket.__

Through the full duration of the regular season and even into the playoffs, senior quarterback Adrian Fox led the region in passing yards while being a dual-threat talent for the Indians.

After sustaining an injury in the first quarter against the Lindbergh Flyers in district semifinal play, though, sophomore Drew Parsons took his place in the pocket where he led the Indians on four scoring drives, two through the air.

With the growing possibility that Parsons could make the start against Seckman, there’ll be plenty of pressure on the young quarterback. His teammates are adamant that he’s the right man for the job, but he needs to find his place within the pocket.

Parsons proved that he has the arm for the job with a few deep strikes to Kai Crowe in the Indians’ 41-13 win against Lindbergh, but game recognition doesn’t come easy.

The Indians may need to rely on Parsons to lead them to a win on Friday night, and it’ll start with how he performs when under pressure from a tough Seckman defense.

“With Drew, he's just got to have confidence,” Crowe said. “I know he's a young guy, but he's just got to stand back there with confidence.”

__3. Establish the running game early.__

Before the season, there were whispers of the Indians adopting a more run-heavy offense. With the graduation of starting running back Tony Williams, Jackson found its back in freshman Jaylon Hampton.

The rookie rusher has proven to be one of the area’s premier rushers when he gets touches, and his explosive potential in the backfield has made planning for the Indians tough this season when paired with the excellence of the quarterback position.

In addition to Hampton’s success, he’s had some help behind him from veteran running backs Jason Goodman and Zach Crump, a senior and junior respectively.

Crump presents a more “power back” approach to the game with his large stature while Goodman has been Jackson’s go-to speed back for the last few seasons, including some reps with the 2020 state championship team.

With plenty of options, Jackson’s running game is diverse and powerful and has taken a big step forward from where it had been for the past few seasons. In the event that Parsons is called up to make his first career start at quarterback, the backs will need to help him out whenever possible.