Eds. note: Herald prep writer David Krueger visited Jackson’s camp on Monday.
What’s new? Jackson’s quarterback.
Junior Alex Cheesman and Woodinville-transfer Wesley Love are competing to be the next in a long line of successful Jackson quarterbacks. The duo have spent the first week of practices demonstrating what they can do as they attempt to get the nod to replace first-team All-Wesco quarterback Conor Plaisance.
“We’re very fortunate,” said Jackson head coach Joel Vincent. “We have a strong tradition here of great quarterbacks and it looks like we’ve got a couple more right now that are in the mix and in the running.”
According to Vincent, Cheesman is more of a “traditional pocket passer” while Love is “super-athletic, and at the same time throws a very nice ball like Alex does.” Both have demonstrated their potential to Vincent, who hasn’t ruled out the idea of using both quarterbacks in a game.
“Maybe we can be creative and create packages for both of those guys,” Vincent said.
Returning all-conference players
First team – Trey Robinson (Sr., Wide Receiver), Alek Baumgartner (Sr., Wide Receiver), Jake Miles (Sr., Linebacker), Nick White (Sr., Linebacker), Michael Zeng (Sr., Kicker). Second team – Keynan Foster (Jr., Wide Receiver), Jake Miles (Sr., Offensive Line), Trey Robinson (Sr., Defensive Back), John-Robert Wooley (Sr., Linebacker).
Player to watch: Trey Robinson, Sr., WR/DB
Trey Robinson has shown that he has plenty of talent on the field, and in his senior season, Vincent is asking something more of the senior captain.
To demonstrate his leadership abilities both on and off the gridiron.
“He’s an all-state caliber kid,” Vincent said. “… Obviously we look to Trey for all those athletic things he can do on the field but this year as a senior we’ve placed a lot of emphasis on him with the leadership component in the locker room, on the field and around school. We’re expecting big things out of Trey and rightfully so. He’s a real talent.”
Vincent said Robinson is a great model for his fellow Timberwolves with what can happen if they work hard. That’s a big part of the reason that Robinson was selected as a captain by his team in the spring.
“We expect (captains) to set that bar for the rest of the guys to follow,” Vincent said.
Fresh Faces: Ryan Fee, So., OL
The Timberwolves have a good portion of last year’s Wesco 4A South championship team returning, but one spot where Jackson has an opening is on the offensive line. Vincent is looking at Fee to potentially fill that opening.
“Any time you’re looking at a sophomore starting, or potentially starting, on your offensive line he’s got to be a pretty talented sophomore,” Vincent said. “He’s a key newcomer for us.”
Fee spent last year on the freshman team, but Vincent doesn’t seem concerned about Fee keeping up on the varsity squad.
“It’s a big jump, but what we’ve seen here in the first five days and what we saw in the spring, we think he’s ready,” Vincent said.
Outlook:
Jackson returns a good portion of a team that went to the first round of the state tournament last season. The Timberwolves have three receivers that were first- or second-team All-Wesco last season, which should help whichever (or both) quarterback Jackson goes with.
“I like where we’re at. We return a ton of guys,” Vincent said. “… What it comes down to, with so many guys, is we’re not reinventing the wheel. We’re not teaching things for the first time. We’re reviewing and we’re refining. As a program, that’s a nice place to be.”
When a head coach says something like that, it’s really hard to pick against the Timberwolves to win back-to-back league titles.
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