Jackson Rolls Past McClain In Dominant Fashion
By: Will Price
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It took three plays for the Jackson Ironmen to establish the line of scrimmage against the McClain Tigers.
It started when Brice Graham burst through a hole on the left side for 18 yards.
Brody Landrum followed with a run of his own for 29 yards. He finished the drive off with an eight yard rush to put Jackson ahead 7-0 early in the contest.
The Ironmen (6-3) powered past the Tigers (2-7) 55-0 to keep their Frontier Athletic Conference playoff hopes alive and bounce back from a heartbreaking overtime loss the week before to Hillsboro.
Needing a win to have a chance to go to the postseason, Jackson turned in an impressive all-around performance at McClain field.
Jackson took advantage after Landrum intercepted Tiger quarterback Eric Anderson and gave the Ironmen great field position to start their second drive. This time, Jaiden Spires barreled a short rush into the end zone to extend the lead to 14-0.
It wasn’t all easy going for the Ironmen. McClain kept quarterback Jared Icenhower in check early with tight coverage down the field on his receivers early on in the game. Sophomore linebacker Landon Gilbert made a few nice tackles that led to a fourth down deep in the Tiger’s own territory. On that play, Richie Everhart picked off Icenhower to keep the Ironmen out of the end zone on the possession.
However, McClain’s offense couldn’t capitalize on the turnover. Jackson’s front seven kept Dalton Mischal and the wing t offense of McClain under wraps all night. McClain didn’t manage a first down during the first half.
They ended the game with only 40 yards of total offense. The shutout is Jackson’s third on the year, a number that leads the FAC.
Jackson would pile on more points to break the game open. The final play of the first quarter was the only carry of the night for Brice Parks, but he took it 44 yards to extend the lead to 21-0.
Jackson tallied three more touchdowns in the second quarter. Spires took a handoff 61 yards early on in the second quarter to make it 28-0. Icenhower ran one in from two yards out and added an 18 yard touchdown pass to Drew Bragg, who made a diving catch in the corner of the end zone. The running clock would start as the game went into halftime with a score of 41-0.
Jackson would score two more touchdowns in the second half. The Ironmen ended with 444 yards rushing and over 500 yards of total offense.
They were led by Spires, who had 105 yards on eight carries. Elijah Zorne would add 83 yards on just three attempts along with a touchdown to put an exclamation point on the win.
For McClain, it was a disheartening final home game of the year. They’ll play the FAC leading Hillsboro Indians (8-1) in Hillsboro next week.
Next week is a winner take all matchup for a playoff berth between Jackson and the Chillicothe Cavaliers in Chillicothe.
The Cavaliers are 7-2 but got upset by the Washington Court House Blue Lions 20-7. Jackson clinches a playoff berth with a win, while Chillicothe can’t clinch next weekend, but they can nearly guarantee a spot in Week 11 if they overcome the Ironmen.