Week 1 - Jackson @ Wellston

[Ironmen32]

ironman02.....Wellston has a scrimmage at home against Chesapeake at 6 p.m. on Wednesday (8-11). It may be moved to 7 p.m. because of the heat?

I talked to Coach Hutchinson today at Wellston and he said he'd call me if time changed on that scrimmage. It was Wellston's football media day today.

Jackson's media day is Monday (8-16).

I hope you had a chance to catch my TVC-Ohio and SEOAL league previews, which ran in last week's editions of The Times-Journal.

Wellston's second scrimmage is at Zane Trace on Friday, Aug. 20 at 6 p.m.

Did scrimmage get moved back?

[hsfbfan]

Wellston's scrimmage is now at 7pm

[Rocket50]

Back from the Wellston scrimmage, the boys look good for the first scrimmage, I noticed they don't have the size that previous Rocket teams have had but they've got speed, their well conditioned, and they're physical. I think we'll know more about this team after the Zane Trace scrimmage.

[ironman02]

Great SEOAL preview, Keyser_soze78! Thanks for sending it to me. I'll be looking forward to the Fall Sports Preview on the 24th.

[Keyser_sozeThrice]

ironman02...You are quite welcome. Did you make it to any scrimmages on Wednesday?

In addition to my regular workload, I'm working on fall sports preview stuff, my managing editor is on vacation this week and crisis came up at work Wednesday that needed attention and didn't allow me to make Wellston's scrimmage or Oak Hill's even in the morning. Tomorrow (well now today on Thursday) better be better all the way around.

[Ironmen32]

I visited C.H. Jones Field, and I agree the line is really small, but the Osborne kid can fly. Surely they won't have Prater just handing the ball off. The fullbacks, Miller and Jayjohn, run very hard. I also saw that Wellston was weak against the option and pass.

[ironman02]

ironman02...You are quite welcome. Did you make it to any scrimmages on Wednesday?

In addition to my regular workload, I'm working on fall sports preview stuff, my managing editor is on vacation this week and crisis came up at work Wednesday that needed attention and didn't allow me to make Wellston's scrimmage or Oak Hill's even in the morning. Tomorrow (well now today on Thursday) better be better all the way around.

Sounds like you're a busy man. Hope today was much better.

Yes, I did make it to the Wellston-Peake scrimmage. I was pretty impressed with the Rockets, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Austin Osborne was nearly unstoppable. Like Ironmen32 said, he can absolutely fly when he gets into the open field and he really runs hard...doesn't shy away from contact either. Prater didn't get many opportunities, but I'd say that was probably by design. With Osborne, Prater, Miller, and Jayjohn, Wellston should be very explosive offensively this season. It'll all depend on their line play, and the guys up front seemed to play fairly well against Peake. Chesapeake moved the ball with some success against the Wellston defense, but there were bright spots for the Rockets on that side of the ball as well. Can't wait until the 28th.

[ironman02]

Made the trip to Pomeroy this morning for the scrimmage between Jackson and Meigs. Once again, I was very impressed with the Ironmen overall. The varsity scrimmage featured two sets of ten plays, followed by a down and distance portion that amounted to about a full quarter of play. By my count, Jackson's 1st string defeated the Marauders by a score of 4 TDs to 0. A combination of the Meigs 1st teamers and some of the JVs punched in a TD on the Jackson 2nd string near the end of the varsity portion. The Jackson JVs/Freshmen were leading the Meigs JVs 1 TD to 0 when I left, leaving the overall score at 5 TDs to 1 TD in favor of the Ironmen at that time.

Jackson opened the first ten play series on offense, and moved the ball extremely well. The Jackson offensive line played very well during that first set of plays, and Arthur, Ervin, and Meredith all had success in the ground game. Ervin scored on a short TD run on what I believe was the ninth play of the series. During the Marauders' first set of ten plays, they struggled to get much going, but had a few decent gains.

The Ironmen didn't look as crisp during the second set of ten plays, but they still moved the ball pretty well. They did turn the ball over once on a bad exchange between Winchester and Arthur. Meigs, again, moved the ball a little, but didn't really get much going. After that, the two teams began the down and distance portion of the scrimmage. Jackson immediately turned the ball over with an INT, but the Ironmen defense stood tall and got the ball back after giving Meigs great field position. From there, Jackson picked up the intensity again and controlled the next few minutes of play. Ervin and Arthur again made some huge plays on the ground, and Klay capped off the drive with a great TD run. Jackson then recovered a Meigs fumble and Winchester hooked up with Ty McNelly on a TD pass on the first play of the ensuing drive. On Jackson's final drive with the 1st string in the game, Drew Ervin scored his second TD of the day to bring the Jackson tally to 4 TDs.

At that point, what I think was a combination of the Meigs 1st teamers and JVs put together a nice drive against the Jackson reserves and got on the board to make it 4 TDs to 1. Sophomore Morgan Landrum added Jackson's final TD on a long run, weaving in and out of traffic, and finally pulling away in the open field. Soon after that, I headed back to Jackson.

Coach Hall was able to play a lot of different guys on both sides of the ball, and I'm sure he and the staff got a good look at what they will have moving forward. Jackson's offensive line, with the exception of a few plays during the second set of ten plays, was dominant in my opinion. I feel as though they're going to be a VERY good group this season. The RBs, as I said, were very impressive. Ervin, Arthur, and Meredith are all going to have a lot of success this season. Winchester was able to find his backs out of the backfield for a few nice gains, and he was also able to hit McNelly on a few short to intermediate routes, plus the long TD.

The Jackson defense seems to be coming together nicely also. There's a good bit of depth on the D-Line, the linebackers seem to be pretty aggressive, and I'm very confident in the defensive backfield. Both Winchester and McNelly had very impressive INTs today. I know it's early, but I honestly feel like it'll be hard to find a better duo at CB in all of SE Ohio.

Still plenty to work on as a team, but I really like what I'm seeing so far. The Wheelersburg scrimmage, as usual, will give us a good indication of what to expect from this team in the upcoming season. Looking forward to watching the Pirates and Ironmen battle it out at Alumni Stadium next Friday night.

[Rocket50]

I would consider Austin Osborne to be one of the most underrated players around here, he runs hard and plays all out every play! Great player for the Rockets to build around this season add Prater,Jayjon, & Miller to the equation and this could be a sleeping beauty if the line can get it going and keep it going!

[ironman02]

Osborne may have been underrated before that scrimmage, but in my mind, he's one of the best backs in the area. I was VERY impressed with him against Peake. He should have a huge season for the Rockets.

[Rocket50]

ironman02 I agree with you on the best backs in the area. Kid has some of the best work ethics around and he's great in the classroom, I think he made a splash last yr. when he stepped in for the Prater in the Minford game last season and his first run went for 50 + and td!

[Old*rocket]

Osborn will suprise alot of people this year.so will prater hope both stay injury free should be a good year for the rockets.

[Wellston Ironman]

No uderestimating the way Jackson dominated Pomeroy. Meigs is 2 tds better than wellston most years so Figure my prediction stands.

Jackson 56
Wellston 0

[boilermaker]

Consider the source ,,,,the last 13 years Wellston 10-3 against Meigs.

[Wellston Ironman]

Consider the source ,,,,the last 13 years Wellston 10-3 against Meigs.

How did they do againt the boys from the "BIG APPLE" in that time span?

[boilermaker]

Yeah brag on beating a team half your size.....Im glad not all from Jackson have your knowlege. :122248

[Rocket50]

Well said Boiler!

[Copay]

Jury is still out on my pick for this game. Wellston looked good against a banged up Chesapeake team, and Jackson looked good against a young and inexperienced Meigs team. I think this Friday will be very important for both teams, if Wellston continues to impress against Zane Trace, and Jackson looks like the Ironmen at Meigs against Wheelersburg, I will give the advantage to the Ironmen.

[Rocket50]

My only concern for Wellston in this game is the offensive line! Their defense is going to be like they were back 01-02 play to the whistle & play hard. They have speed this yr. unlike most past teams & their well conditioned, if the O-Line can get holes opened up for the backs to hit this could turn out to be a darn good game and could go either way!

[hsfbfan]

I wouldn't read too much into either scrimmage. IMO Zane Trace isn't as good of a test for Wellston as Wheelersburg is for Jackson.