Week 1 - Jackson @ Wellston

[ironman02]

Did Zane Trace lose a lot from last year's squad? They were pretty good last year, losing only to Amanda-Clearcreek (10-0) and Logan Elm (8-2) during the regular season, before losing to Heath in the playoffs. The rest of their schedule, outside of those two regular season losses, wasn't too difficult, but 8-2 is still impressive.

I love Jackson's scrimmage with Wheelersburg. The Burg has one of the most consistent football programs in the entire state, and they always give the Ironmen a good idea of where they stand. It's kind of weird sometimes though. It seems like most years, the better Jackson plays against Burg, the worse they are in Week 1. If they struggle in the scrimmage against Burg, then they seem more focused and play much better against the Rockets. I'm hoping to see a good performance from the Ironmen on Friday, but like HSFBFAN said, I wouldn't read too much into it no matter what happens.

[Ironman92]

^^^^sounds like typical high school kids....they do well against a program they know is tough and then overlook the finer things and don't have quite the edge....that's why the coach gets the big bucks!

[BorntobeLOM]

Boilermaker
Why talk about Jackson being double Wellston's size? There are always millions of excuses from Wellston fans. Jackson is a bigger school; if we played Jackson at the end of the year; if, if, if, if; etc. Why not drop the Ironmen from the schedule? Wellston cannot win. Plain and simple!

[Rocket50]

Its all about the money!!!!!

[boilermaker]

borntobelom, It is fact that Jackson is a much larger school that Wellston.I was just saying I wouldnt brag on beating a school half as big as mine like Wellston ironman likes to.

Rocket50 is right its all about the money and has been for a long time. 8/28/10

[Old*rocket]

zane trace only lost 2 players to graduation last year, should be good again this year.

[ironman02]

zane trace only lost 2 players to graduation last year, should be good again this year.

Thanks, old*rocket. ZT should be a pretty good test for the Rockets.

[Rocket50]

I think this scrimmage will show a lot but not mean anything towards this game, if I recall last yrs. Rocket team dominated Zane Trace the whole scrimmage and then the following week, well we all know what happened, the winner of this game will be the team that is best prepared and done their homework!

[huthuthike]

Wellston is heading in the right direction. Good coaches, kids, and community behind them. I believe Wellston vs. Jackson will be a great game this year.

[noreply66]

Would love to see Wellston's program come back.

[Rocket50]

If they give Hutch more than a few years this program will be back to the way it was when Coach Lucas was here!

[Dundas]

How is Wellston looking at the middle school level?

[boilermaker]

The Rockets will win this year! The middle school is strong , jr high is too. More kids will start comming out as soon as the wins start.

[Rocket50]

Boiler, is it true that they're combining the 7th & 8th grade team this year?

[huthuthike]

Boiler, is it true that they're combining the 7th & 8th grade team this year?

I'm pretty sure the 7th and 8th grade teams are combined to form one team this year.

[Andy Grillo]

Should be a great game both this year and next, both backfields for each team are very talented and young, having played against both. I look for junior, Ervin to have a big game for jackson, also the juniors from wellston's backfield to have a big game. however, big rival games like these seem to be the seniors game to win or lose. good luck to both teams.

[CoyDuke]

zane trace only lost 2 players to graduation last year, should be good again this year.

This isn't exactly true. They lost several seniors off of last year's team, including one of the best athletes in school history in QB Kirk Maxwell and their best receiver in Gabe Haynes. The Pioneers will be much younger and inexperienced this year.

[grndma1]

Good Luck to both teams. I really want Jackson to win and expect them to, but I also wish Wellston could break that streak. That would give them soooo much confidence for the rest of the year.

[QBear]

I don't know how the scrimmage went tonight, but Zane Trace is very inexperienced this year.

[ironman02]

Just got back from the Jackson-Wheelersburg scrimmage. One ten play series and two quarters of varsity action...Burg got the "win" 23-19. The Ironmen started the scrimmage on offense and moved the ball VERY well, but ran out of plays before scoring. The Burg offense then returned the favor, but also failed to score before the series was over. During Jackson's first offensive possession of the down and distance portion, Drew Ervin raced about 65 yards on the second play from scrimmage for a TD...PAT was missed. Burg answered, connecting on a long pass play to set up a score and take a 7-6 lead. The Burg would pick up a safety due to a bad snap that went over Winchester's head to lead 9-6, and would score on their next drive as well to lead 16-6. Jackson then drove the ball right down the field, only to turn it over on a fumble inside the Burg 25. Burg scored again to make it 23-6, but the Ironmen finally answered on a TD run by Derrick Meredith to make it 23-12. The Ironmen scored the final TD of the varsity portion of the scrimmage on a long fumble return for a TD by Ty McNelly, ending the scrimmage at 23-19.

My impressions from the scrimmage from a Jackson standpoint...

The Ironmen looked pretty tired after the first couple series. I'm sure Coach Hall will have them running A LOT. Have to get in better shape, in my opinion.

Jackson's offense moved the ball VERY well, but the turnovers can't happen. Jackson had only five turnovers all of last season...they had three tonight, one that led to a safety.

Jackson played a lot of kids defensively. I'm sure Coach Hall is trying to build depth and get a feel for what he has to work with. However, I think the defense is going to have to step it up a notch. Burg was moving the ball way too easily, in my opinion. The Pirates are a good football team, though, so I'm sure that has something to do with it.

Plenty of positives, but still plenty to work on. Time to get ready for the Rockets!