By Mike Moore File Photo by Ryan Kerwin, JTV Sports
Staff Writer
Jackson — Of all the Week 1 craziness across the state in high school football, few games could have had the intrigue and drama as Jackson High’s did.
Up by 28.
Tied at 28.
A near touchdown waved off.
An overtime touchdown for the lead.
An overtime touchdown for the loss.
That’s the quick version of the Vikings’ 35-34 overtime loss last weekend to Marshall, a loss the guys in orange and black have to get past quickly entering tonight’s battle with Zeeland East.
“This is a very resilient group of kids,” coach Scott Farley said. “They came back and had a great week of practice. It was the first game of the season against a good opponent.”
And there were positives to take from it, including the play that nearly won Jackson the game.
“In reality, we drove the length of the field and scored a touchdown,” Farley said. “We weren’t given a call that should have given us the ball right there. But we have to put it behind us. There’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves.”
Tied at 28-28 late, Jackson had a completed pass near the end zone that was ruled incomplete.
Farley said he thought the play was a touchdown, or, at the very least, a catch near the goal line.
It wasn’t to be, and after the Vikings missed an extra point in overtime, Marshall scored on its first played and nailed the PAT for the win.
The focus is now on Zeeland East, which is 1-0 after rolling past Saginaw Swan Valley 44-14 last weekend.
“They have a very potent offense, very similar to ours,” Farley said. “We have to be able to slow them down.”
The Chix 44 points in Week 1 shouldn’t come as a surprise as the team averaged 30 per game last fall.
But, the main focus for the Vikings is on themselves — namely on playing with more consistency.
“It’s really execution,” Farley said. “In the first four drives last week, we executed as well as we could and scored four touchdowns. The next six or so we had mistakes that slowed us down and prevented us from doing the things we wanted to do.”
Until their final drive, the Vikings had 34 total yards since they went up 28-0.
“What we weren’t able to do against Marshall was get them in a favorable third or fourth downs, and we couldn’t get them off the field,” Farley said, stressing that the defense has to be more consistent as well. “We have to be better on both sides of the ball.”
Friday night is the first meeting ever between these programs, but coming off the first game of the season, Farley and his guys know how essential it in.
“It’d be a big deal,” he said of avoiding an 0-2 start. “At the same time, we’re taking this one week at a time as we have to. We can’t look too far down the road. It’s all about Friday night for us.”
Mike Moore is a play-by-play commentator and Sports Writer for JTV Sports.
He’s also a Real Estate agent with Real Estate One, specializing with buyers and sellers throughout Michigan, from the Jackson area to metro Detroit. You can reach him at mmoore@realestateone.com or by calling (313) 770-6365 with any inquiries.
