Prep Searching for “4 Peat”
This year’s football season is special for many different reasons. First off, the Jackson Prep football team is trying to achieve the first ever four-peat in Prep history.
The team will have to replace a very talented 2015 class in order to achieve this goal. Prep lost eight starters on offense including quarterback Gene Wood, running back Ian McGraw, and wide receiver Parker Caracci. Luckily for the Patriots they will be returning nearly all of the starters on defense.
The Prep football team has worked diligently all summer with weights every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday as well as skill work on tuesdays all throughout the summer.
Second row: Ross Edwards, Sam Mosely, J.C. Pride, Xavier Keys, and Griffin Calender.
Third row: Lee Meana, William Garrard, Kara Cook, Hannah Higginbotham, Leigh Ashley Courtney, Tate Miller, Elizabeth Glaze, Anna Rachel Roberts, Sydney Mann, John Keeler, and Graham Eklund.
Fourth row: Haynes Horsley, Biggs Henry, Adam Crawford, Vann Crawford, Creed Franklin, Kaleb Lovertich, Davis Clayton, Worth Eskrigge, and John Wooley.
Photo Courtesy of Hubert Worley
The team also competed in a 7 on 7 tournament in late June. They won five of their nine games, beating 6A powerhouse Madison Central, and coming up just shy of beating Brandon public school. Prep put on one of its best performances ever in the annual tournament and showed that they were able to hang with anyone there.
This year’s team had four preseason al-state players including Healy Vice, J.C. Pride, Taylor Wallace, and Graham Eklund. Two players, Graham Eklund and Kaleb Lovertich, were also added to the prestigious “Fab 15” team which picks the best 15 returning MAIS players in the state.
The team starts the season with a road trip to Oak Forest, then travels to Washington school for their second game of the season.
It is not until the third week of the year that the Patriots will play on Patriot Field against 1A Cathedral. This is one of the few years that the Jackson Prep team will not be competing against any 4 or 5A public schools. Prep has 11 regular season games and possibly two playoff games and a championship game.
Prep will have six home games and five away games, not including the playoff and championship game.
As many know, Walker Wilbanks, lost his life during last years football season. The team rallied together and won a state championship in honor of Walker.
This year would have been his senior season, and the team has the same mindset as they did last year: To win in honor of Walker.
