East Jackson Looks to Show Big 8 They Can Play Physical Football

Photos by Hannah Tacy & Henry Black, JTV Sports

Trey Richmond | JTV Sports

Tuesday August 24th

(8-24-2026, 3:30PM): After only being able to play a mostly junior varsity schedule last season, the Trojans of East Jackson look forward to new competition and simply playing a varsity schedule in 2026.

There is a lot of new for East Jackson this season including joining the Big 8 Conference. This will also be Josh Kubiak’s first season at the helm for the Trojans. His role is brand new in East Jackson as he only had his first team meeting just over a month ago. While the job at East Jackson is new for Kubiak, the role of head coach is not. He is the former head coach of Columbia Central. Along with being the head football coach, Kubiak is also the athletic director, which has helped him get himself, his staff, and his team prepared for the season to come. East Jackson decided to help keep the football program going, it would be best to name him the head coach with his experience, instead of looking to hire from the outside with the season so close.

Along with his head coaching experience, Kubiak also spent last year as the offensive coordinator for Western, and will now call the offense for the Trojans. He is going to run an offense built on the strengths of his roster and will share some similarities to the offense he ran at Western last year. Kubiak’s team is not the biggest in the county, but he has some athletes; in his “run and gun” offense he will utilize their athleticism to spread the field and find gaps in the defense. The Trojan running back duo of Lucas Richardson and Noah Bean will be a strength of the offense. Their teammates are excited to see their size and speed in action on Friday nights. The Trojans are also ready to see their quarterback, Jayson Lovett, and his arm shine in the new offense. Receiving threats for him will be Landin Hendricks and Ayden Crandell.

Ray Howland will be the defensive coordinator for a versatile defense. Players are learning new and different roles from what they are used to so they can plug and play as needed. Howland and Kubiak’s relationship goes back to their days coaching for Columbia Central. Since then, Howland has been an assistant coach at Onsted for the past several years. Once Kubiak found out he was going to be the Trojan’s head coach, Howland was his first call for the coordinator position.

Success for this season will be “nine varsity football games” being played, according to Kubiak; along with competing in them. “A lot of these kids have not experienced Friday night football, and in my opinion that’s a life changing thing,” said Kubiak.

2026 East Jackson Football Schedule:

(all games at 7pm)

8/28 vs Reading

9/3 vs Quincy

9/11 @ Vermontville Maple Valley

9/18 @ Stockbridge

9/25 @ Springport

10/2 vs Union City

10/9 vs Vestaburg

10/16 @ Homer

10/23 vs Bronson