After years of struggling, Jackson reestablished football tradition in 2015
By Mike Moore
Staff Writer
Jackson – There came a time when something had to change, a moment where this trend of suffering and forgettable moments, had to be dismissed.
Since reaching the playoffs in 2009, the Jackson High football program had been coasting downhill, like, Clark Griswold on a greased up sled speeding downhill.
A year after making the playoffs the Vikings went 3-6.
That was followed by 1-8, 0-9, 2-7 and 1-8.
And then, at last, came 2015.
“Truthfully, I expected a very good year,” coach Scott Farley said earlier this week while reflecting on the season. “We knew we had good guys coming back. We had some character guys, guys that put a lot of work into making this better.”
And did they ever.
Following last weekend’s loss to Livonia Franklin in the district final, the Vikings closed the fall with an 8-3 record.
Again, that’s after going 7-38 in the five previous seasons.
“As far as building the program back up, it was important to have a year like this,” Farley stressed. “The kids needed to see that if they did what we asked, we could have a positive outcome. Obviously, losing is so frustrating. Going through some of the issues we had to face, wasn’t fun. But I came here knowing what it would take to turn things around. I think we created some credibility for the program, especially the younger kids.”
And it wasn’t just at the varsity level.
Farley said the junior varsity team finished 7-2, and the freshman team was 6-3.
There wasn’t that one game, or practice, where Farley knew what could be with this group, either.
“It was a cumulative thing,” he said. “All through the summer they were good. At 7-on-7 competitions, they were good. We just kind of knew this was a good group.”
Jackson lost six games in a row to close out 2014, and only one was a single-digit loss.
But this year’s group kick started the year with a 40-7 victory against Ann Arbor Huron, then doubled last year’s win total in Week 2 with a 56-27 win against Lansing Everett.
Two losses in the next three weeks certainly tested his guys, Farley said, but then came a 37-10 win against Okemos, a 56-0 shutout of Lansing Eastern, and maybe the most important victory of the season, a 63-41 shootout over Holt.
“I think they always believed in themselves, but I don’t know that they believed in the total program or process until Week 8 when we beat Holt,” Farley said. “We lost a few games in the middle of the year, and there was some doubt about this team. This is a young group, and this is a very what-have-you-done-for-me-lately deal. We had to continue to fight all year to get to where we believed we could really go.”
“Holt was undefeated in the conference and had been playing very well,” he continued. “We were the underdog, but didn’t play that way. We battled past some things in that game. That carried over. That belief made a huge difference for the rest of the season, there’s no doubt about it.”
The following weekend Jackson shocked Lumen Christi 35-34 in overtime, and then won the program its first playoff game since 1999, beating Livonia Churchill 42-35.
Less than a week after ending the season, though, Farley knows the real challenge is about to start.
In each of the past four times Jackson has had a winning season, the following fall was a .500, or below, campaign.
The program hasn’t had consecutive winning seasons since 1998-2000.
“The standard has to change,” Farley said simply. “I just read something the other day that talked about winning not being normal. If we’re going to be a winning program, we can’t be normal. We have to do the thing the average team, players and coaches aren’t going to do. Tony Dungy talks about success being for the uncommon man. That’s how we have to think of ourselves from now on.”
Mike Moore is a play-by-play commentator and Sports Writer for JTV Sports. You can reach him at mjm12@albion.edu. He’s also the author of ‘Love, Defined; A Dedication to the Love, Sacrifice, and Magic of Motherhood.’
Love, Defined is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Tate Publishing or by contacting Mike directly.