Game of the Week Preview: East Jackson vs Jefferson

The BLITZ Game of the Week gives us our first-ever opportunity to travel to East Jackson for a region-opener against Jefferson.

EAST JACKSON

East Jackson is having quite the season. The Eagles are flying high at 3-1 as they enter the midway point of their season. Considering last year the team went just 1-9 and 1-8 the year prior, it’s clear that something special is happening in Commerce. Yes, technically it’s still early. But consider these facts too: in 2018, the team started 1-3 instead of the inverted 3-1 this year. In those contests, they were outscored 152-20. This time around, they are outscoring those same opponents 100-64. That’s drastic in both directions, and first-year head coach Cameron Pettus has A LOT to do with it. In the school’s brief history (est. 2007), this program has only won more than 3 games twice, lastly with a 4-win 2016. The one outlier is the 10-2, 2009 season that saw EJ get to the second round of state. Pettus has a real chance to take this team back toward that kind of success.

JEFFERSON

The #8-ranked Dragons shocked everyone with a 41-7 win at Gainesville. It wasn’t shocking to get the W, but the final tally made anyone do a double-check. Still, the way Jefferson gets it done is just phenomenal. As early as a couple of years ago, the Dragons relied heavily on one incredible running back (Colby Wood). Nowadays, the team is so deep that many guys are getting their name called. Talk about a headache for any team to try and counter. So many horses in the stable. One thing to consider this season is Jefferson’s canceled game due to lightning. While it is a bummer in some ways, there are obvious advantages, as the team perhaps will be more fresh with saving the team from potential injuries, which marred the 2018 season.

BY THE NUMBERS (2019)

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Be looking for highlights post-game late tonight as well as a story recapping WEEK 6. Highlights will also be shared on Channel 5 (Fox) on the 11 PM “High 5 Sports” show tonight. You can also follow us on Twitter (@BlitzSportsGa) for live score updates.

OUR PREDICTION

Jefferson is riding the high of a big-time statement win. The team is also fresher with playing less football so far. Not to mention the depth. East Jackson will be interesting to see how it responds to its first loss of the season. Both teams are ground-heavy, which likely means a quicker game as the clock should roll through each quarter rapidly. Last year, the Dragons won this one 70-0. The team is even better this year, but so too is East Jackson. It won’t be that bad, but…OUR PICK: JEFFERSON

DETAILS OF THE MATCHUP

TIME: 7:30 PM Kickoff
PLACE: East Jackson HS / Commerce, GA
LAST MEETING: 2018; Jefferson 70, East Jackson 0
ALL-TIME RECORD: Jefferson 7, East Jackson 0
RECORDS: East Jackson Eagles (3-1; 0-0 in 8-AAA); Jefferson Dragons (2-1; 0-0 in 8-AAA)

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

Since East Jackson’s inception in 2007, it has squared off with the Dragons on 7 different occasions, but has yet to walk off the field as winners. The closest was during the stellar 10-2, 2009 season for the Eagles, when Jefferson won 35-21. In the past 3 meetings, Jefferson has won 63-0 (2014), 49-0 (2015), and 70-0 (2018). That’s 182-0 if you’re keeping score. The odds are heavily stacked against the Eagles to pull off an upset here, but something closer to the 2009 result would be a moral victory for them.

TEAM LEADERS

EAST JACKSON (incomplete stats)

PASSING
Greg Huggs: 217 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT (15/33 passing; 46%)
Hunter Hardwick: 66 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT (6/11 passing; 55%)

RUSHING
Nino Brown: 383 yds, 4 TD, 7.5 YPC
Greg Huggs: 66 yds, 1 TD, 3.7 YPC
RJ White: 48 yds, 0 TD, 9.6 YPC
Hunter Hardwick: 44 yds, 0 TD, 7.3 YPC

RECEIVING
Caleb Adair: 115 yds, 2 TD, 8 rec
Shawn Cunningham: 110 yds, 1 TD, 8 rec
Luke Lindsey: 38 yds, 1 TD, 2 rec

TACKLES
Jeremiah Stansell: 27 TKL, 1 TFL
Jackson Nelms: 25 TKL, 1 Fum Rec
Gary Maddox III: 16 TKL, 2 TFL, 1 Sack
CJ Wright: 15 TKL, 3 TFL, 1 Sack

INTERCEPTIONS
Kahlil Watkins: 1
RJ White: 1

JEFFERSON (incomplete stats)

PASSING
Colby Clark: 114 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT (7/14 passing; 50%)

RUSHING
Malaki Starks: 187 yds, 2 TD, 17.0 YPC
Tre Reece: 129 yds, 2 TD, 32.3 YPC
Kolton Jones: 94 yds, 1 TD, 10.4 YPC
Jordan Perry: 90 yds, 30.0 YPC
Levin Jones: 88 yds, 1 TD, 88.0 YPC
Colby Clark: 58 yds, 2 TD, 2.3 YPC
Paxton Corkery: 22 yds, 4.4 YPC
Donsha Gaither: 17 yds, 2.8 YPC

RECEIVING
Malaki Starks: 63 yds, 1 TD, 2 rec
Donsha Gaither: 18 yds, 1 TD, 2 rec
Jordan Perry: 14 yds, 1 rec
Josh Cochran: 11 yds, 1 rec
Paxton Corkery: 8 yds, 1 rec

TACKLES
Rem Maxwell: 16 TKL
Kade McNally: 15 TKL, 2 TFL, 1 Forced Fum
Paxton Corkery: 10 TKL, 1 TFL
Kadin Bailey: 9 TKL

INTERCEPTIONS
Kade McNally: 1