Week 1 - Jackson @ Wellston

[Rocket50]

What do we think about the teams, what players will make a big splash, and who wins!

[X8XOHIOLEGENDX7X]

Look every years us wellston fans says this is the year. And it never is. So i will say this wellston is returning a very good football teams with miller osbourn prater ect. jackson always has players to match and play better. the game is at wellston this year which never means anything at all. anyhow wellston 24 jackson 21

[Rocket50]

At least you still support em! Ill go with the rockets winning 14-7 with osborne and prater running crazy on the ironmen!

[The _Big_One]

Even if we have the better team jackson some how always slips away with a win, but not this year, coach hutch will have our troops ready for battle this year!!!!

[Buckeye-4-Life]

You got to be kidding me! This thread is starting already? I heard this was a heated rivalry but isnt it a little early to start speculating?

[Boss429]

Here we go again Wellston faithful . . . I will give a very slight edge to the Rockets with skill kids (you don't appear to have a qb), I give Jackson a definite edge in line size and strength, and give Jackson an absolutely huge advantage in coaching. BLOWOUT . . . Ironmen 28 Rockets 6. Being generous here too!! Depends upon how Jackson gets going. When I saw them scrimmage last year, the only games I thought they would win were the Wellston and Vinton games. They did get better as the season went on. That's coaching, we'll see what kind of coaching the Rockets get this year!

[Rocket50]

I beleive the rockets coaching will be greatly improved from last year, I also thought that in the trenches jackson would have the adavantage but after seeing some of the rockets lineman this past week working out and doing drills they're looking good, for the qb situation it looks like jaylen prater is the front runner, but what about for jackson? Ervin or the younger Landrum?

[BorntobeLOM]

I beleive the rockets coaching will be greatly improved from last year, I also thought that in the trenches jackson would have the adavantage but after seeing some of the rockets lineman this past week working out and doing drills they're looking good, for the qb situation it looks like jaylen prater is the front runner, but what about for jackson? Ervin or the younger Landrum?

Isn't it a little early for linemen to be doing drills? Hopefully you mean speed or endurance drills. Outside of weightlifting and conditioning any coaching before June 1st is a big no-no

[hsfbfan]

IMO I think Hutch is too much like Larry Blackstone and will coach overly conservative in this game. I doubt if Wellston even scores an offensive TD against Jackson.

[boilermaker]

Wellston's offense will be run out of the swinging gate formation. Alot of trickoration.

[Rocket50]

BorntobeLOM

they were speed training drills!

[boilermaker]

They will need those speed drills to run the swinging gate offense!

[WJfan4life]

good luck to our friends at Wellston

[Dundas]

Will this game be on a Saturday again?

[boilermaker]

Yes Saturday @ Wellston.

[jacksonoaks]

Another year and the samething.. This always happens, not to be rude but however, Jackson and Wellston game will be talked about starting now, All the Wellston people will say this is the year Jackson is going to lose. then its gametime and Jackson will blow them out of the water. Jackson 35 wellston 7

[ironmen1987]

Until Wellston quits finding ways to lose this game it won't matter what kind of talent they have. Whether its that they try too hard or they're just overmatched it seems the turnover bug is always there to stop them. They shoot themselves in the foot.

[Keyser_sozeThrice]

ironmen1987....First of all, it's "shoot themselves in the foot." Not "theirselves"

Secondly, it sounds like you are not giving any credit to the Ironmen for having found ways to win this game.

By the way, neither team committed a turnover in last season's game. I know because I covered it.

[ironmen1987]

How many games over the last 20 years has Wellston had the lead or at least kept it close only to commit untimely penalities or suddenly be unable to hang onto the ball ? So they didn't turn it over last year and we beat a team that everyone else beat. A team that had key injuries. There's your credit.

[ironman02]

ironmen1987,

I do understand that Wellston was without Prater in the opener last season, and that was a huge loss for them, but they really only put together one sustained drive. Season openers tend to be sloppy, even without turnovers, so that 21-7 win was probably a little ugly, but it's a win nonetheless. Neither team was sharp, but Jackson was good enough defensively to control the game.

There have been a few occasions during the streak that Wellston certainly could have won, but they did turn the ball over or made a crucial mistake late in the game. However, more often than not, Jackson has won in convincing fashion. Here are the scores...

1990 - Jackson 33, Wellston 14
1991 - No Game
1992 - Jackson 26, Wellston 12
1993 - Jackson 26, Wellston 0
1994 - Jackson 31, Wellston 12
1995 - Jackson 56, Wellston 0
1996 - Jackson 50, Wellston 0
1997 - Jackson 49, Wellston 15
1998 - Jackson 28, Wellston 0
1999 - Jackson 20, Wellston 0
2000 - Jackson 29, Wellston 20
2001 - Jackson 44, Wellston 33
2002 - Jackson 28, Wellston 26
2003 - Jackson 27, Wellston 21
2004 - Jackson 55, Wellston 0
2005 - Jackson 14, Wellston 0
2006 - Jackson 28, Wellston 7
2007 - Jackson 56, Wellston 6
2008 - Jackson 41, Wellston 14
2009 - Jackson 21, Wellston 7

Looking at those scores, and thinking back to all the games, I would say that there are only three occasions out of nineteen games where Wellston REALLY had a chance to win in the 4th quarter and let it slip away. There are a few scores in there that are a little closer because of late TDs and such, but 2001, 2002, and 2003 are the years that I'm referring to.

In 2001, Wellston was led by Brad Young and Thomas Mayes. It was an offensive shootout with Young and Jackson's Swisher trading big play after big play. Wellston led 33-32 in the 2nd half, but Jackson scored the go-ahead TD to take a 38-33 lead. Wellston, who had been moving the ball well, turned it over late in the 4th on a botched QB-Center exchange, and Jackson put it away with a late TD.

The 2002 game featured a Jackson team that went 4-6 against an 8-2 Wellston team, but Jackson still got the win at C.H. Jones Field. Wellston had a two-point conversion try to tie the game, but couldn't convert. They got the ball back, but turned it over on downs inside their own 5 late in the game and Jackson took a knee. Mayes, Rex Herrold, and company played well, but they couldn't beat the Ironmen.

2003 is the REALLY close call. What would be a very good Jackson team led by Jared Humphreys didn't play very well that night, and Lance Phillips almost won the game single-handedly in one of the best individual defensive performances I have ever seen at the high school level. Wellston took a 21-19 lead late in the game and forced Jackson into a 4th and inches situation near midfield. A Humphreys sneak got the first down on what was believed by many to be a controversial spot. Humphreys ended up punching one in, and with the two-point conversion, Jackson held on to win 27-21.

Yes, Wellston has had a handful of opportunities to end the streak, especially in 2003, but you also have to give credit to Jackson for making plays down the stretch in some of those games. Wellston may have had turnovers or mistakes in key situations, but Jackson didn't, and they made the plays when the game was on the line. That's what matters most, and that's why Jackson hasn't lost this game since 1989.

I have no idea what will happen this season simply because there is a lot of work to be done between now and late August. Both teams certainly are returning some great players, and it sounds like Hutchinson really has the kids buying into the program at Wellston. We'll see what happens when the time comes.