After winning the Western Conference South Division title and making the state playoffs last year, the Jackson football team is already taking steps to ensure continued success for next season.
The players have set themselves three goals at the end of the spring practices. First, they want to repeat as Wesco South champions. Then, they want to reach the state playoffs. Lastly, they will strive to play in the Tacoma Dome in the state 4A semifinals.
“Ultimately, it is up to what the players want,” said Jackson coach Joel Vincent, who is entering his 12th year with the school. “They’ve set great goals I think; now it is up to us to lead them to that.”
The team was a perfect 6-0 in league play and finished with a 9-2 record overall last year, where it fell 24-7 to Ferris in the state playoffs, missing a spot in the state quarterfinals.
At the conclusion of spring practices, Vincent was very happy with what he saw. With a large amount of returning players from last year’s winning squad, he is right where he wants to be with the team. Thus far, the practices have been more focused on review than on teaching new formations and helping new players, he said. That will surely be a scary prospect for the other teams in the league.
The team lost its best player in running back Taylor Cox, who was a two-time first team all-league selection at running back.
“Losing a player of his caliber will affect us, but we’ll be more balanced because of it,” said Vincent. He estimated that 70 percent of their plays last year were runs, but without Cox to carry the ball, Vincent wants to have a much more balanced ratio between running and passing plays on offense.
Jackson’s running game will still be in good hands, however. Senior-to-be Riley Carr, who was a first-team, all-league selection last year, has experience and the skill set to take Cox’s place. Other key returning players include senior-to-be Andy Gay at quarterback, junior-to-be Walker Evans as an offensive lineman and linebacker and senior-to-be A.J. Coppage, who plays as a lineman.
Spring practices began a couple of weeks ago for the Timberwolves, but last week, Jackson came down to Woolsey Stadium, the home field for King’s, to scrimmage against some other nearby high school teams. This allowed Vincent work on offensive and defensive schemes with his players in real situations against an opponent. He was pleased with the large turnout for these practices, which can only benefit his team more in the long run.
“Springtime is a big time of assessment,” Vincent said. “We’ll debrief now (at the end of these practices,) and find areas we need to work on.”
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