September 15, 2023
The varsity football team Jackson- Milton faced off against McDonald at home on Military night. The athletes on Jackson Milton played well offensively and defensively. They gave their all and put in a lot of great effort. JM beat McDonald with the score of 28-21 making McDonald go 3-2 and JM 5-0. The team put in there all to make our team go 5-0 for the first time since 1997.
Coach Brode felt satisfied with his team, “ I was pleased with the communications that we had with one another and thought our guys did a good job of being leaders.”
The varsity team did an excellent job running the plays. First quarter had JM score falling behind at 0-7 McDonald from the 28 yard pass. Second quarter Aiden Stanke had an 8 yard run and a 1 yard run (Samuel Conn kick) leading the score to a tie of 7-7. Third quarter the score caught up to 21-14 with Jonah French having a 9 yard pass from Cayden Mitchell (Samuel Conn kick). The winning Fourth quarter 28-21 Vincent Fay had a 57 yard pass from Cayden Mitchell (Samuel Conn kick). Offensively the Blue Jays had 4 touchdowns total. Defensively Jackson Milton Blue Jays were led by Vincent Fay with 12 tackles, followed by Aiden Stanke and Keegan White with 9. Keegan white also had a quarterback sack. The coaches are feeling good about moving forward with this team.
Coach Brode says, “If our guys execute the game plan and are gap sound, we will like the results Friday night. The team will need to stick together and have some reliability and commitment. Overall, the boys varsity football team has had a great season so far, everyone is looking forward to seeing where they can take us.”
September 22, 2023
The varsity boy football team Jackson-Milton Blue Jays played against the Springfield Tigers at Springfield. Our players had a tough match up.
Coach Brode says,“ I give a lot of credit to the Tigers, they played well.”
The Blue Jays had a rough night with this being the first loss of the season with the score being 35-10 putting our team at 5-1. Most of our troubles were trying to stop the Tigers defense and moving with the ball. Jackson-Milton did not execute the game plan too easily. The top players were #8 Cayden Mitchell and #15 Aiden Stanke. Aiden Stanke with 12 tackles and Cayden Mitchell with 9. Cayden Michell also had one touchdown.The first quarter 0-7 Springfield local had a 7 yard run (kick). Second quarter we were down 0-14 until we got a 26 yard pass (kick) and the ending score for the second quarter was 7-21. Third quarter JM team tried to catch up with a 32 yard run which brought the score to 10-28 after Springfield had a 4 yard run (kick). The final score was 10-35 in the fourth quarter which had the Blue Jays defeated but not finished. The Blue Jays football team will have a good practice this week trying to get back together from this most recent loss.
Coach Brode also mentioned, “ Our guys are very resilient, so I see us playing very well this coming Friday night.”
The coaches believe in the team they created and won’t back down. Jackson-Milton is looking forward to seeing our boys get back in the game and beat the Waterloo Vikings on homecoming game night.
September 29, 2023
The Varsity Jackson-Milton Blue Jays football team faced off Waterloo Vikings at the home field on homecoming game night. Jackson Milton kept the win making our record 6-1 with the winning score being 19-6. The first quarter the Blue Jays led the score at 6-0 Lind’nardo Hines touch down from a powerful 32 yard interception return. Going into the second quarter our game was tied 6-6 when the Vikings scored a touchdown. Getting into the 3rd quarter Keegan White had a great 4 yard run touchdown making the score 13-6. And the final quarter Cayden Mitchells 2 yard run from Samuel Conn’s “no good kick”. Defensively Stanke carried with 12 tackles following up with Joey Zayas with 11, Mitchell, Fay, and Mcdevitt with 10. Cayden Mitchell led with two interceptions and Lind’nardo Hines with one. The Jackson Milton varsity team has had the best season so far since 1981. The Blue Jay boys went through a learning experience in this game.
The Viking playing pretty tough put us through a tough time but nothing the Jays couldn’t push through. There’s lots of talent and skill that they overcome in more unfortunate situations.
The coaches were proud of their team, Coach Brode says, “ Effort level was there all night”
The execution of the game plan was not falling through. The Blue Jays have improved in specific aspects of the game and will continue to keep working hard at practice and putting in their all. They will continue to improve and get ready for the next competition, the Lowellville 6-1 Rockets for the WKBN game of the week on Friday.
October 6, 2023
The varsity Jackson-Milton football team played the Lowellville Rockets on Friday at Lowville for the game of the week. The Jays were picked for WKBN’s Game of the Week for the second time in school history. The Jays had a rough outing Friday night. Top 3 players were #8 Cayden Mitchell, #24 Keegan White, and #15 Aiden Stanke. The top 3 defensively Aiden Stanke carried in tackles leading with 11, Keegan white with 10, and Joey Zayas with 7. First quarter the Lowellville Rockets took the leading score with 14 points. Second quarter, the Jays tried to come back with a 9 yard run touchdown. The Rockets shot back and had a 43 yard pass touchdown which made the final score before half time 7-21. A good percentage of the game the boys played hard and tough.
Although Coach Brode states, “We are proud of them for owning a 6-2 record.”
Back to the third quarter, neither team scored which kept the score 7-21. Last quarter, the Rockets scored two touchdowns and the Blue Jays had a 16 yard run. Final score was 14-35, Rockets. Making the varsity boys football teams record 6-2.
October 13, 2023
The Varsity Blue Jays football team traveled more than an hour to gain a good victory against the Fairport Skippers. The Jackson-Milton team’s final score was 26-20. Jackson-Milton battled their way through each quarter. Jackson-Milton has the greatest record from these nine games since 1981 which has been 42 years since then. The coaches were pleased with the game results. The guys played hard and were very physical through the whole game. First quarter they had two touchdowns. First , they had Vincent Fay’s 30 yard pass from Cayden Mitchell (Samuel Conn, kicker). Then Joey Zayas had a 2 yard pass from Cayden Mitchell. This was a good way to start the game. Second quarter, they had one touchdown from Cayden Mitchell for a 9 yard run. Third quarter, Jack McDevitt had a 26 yard pass from Cayden Mitchell. The fourth quarter finalized the game score to 26-20.
Coach Brode claims, “I’m very proud of this year’s team.” The Blue Jays have improved their act this season.
Coach Brode also mentions, “We battled through some adverse situations we were given and continued to succeed in spite of those situations.”
The Jays can fight through any conflicts that come their way. To recognize Jack McDevitt who had his first varsity touchdown reception from 28 yards out as a sophomore. The duo of Keegan White, junior RB and Senior Cayden Mitchell, QB , carried offensively. Keegan White carried the ball 19 times, a career high of 186 yards with two receptions for 17 yards. Joey Zayas had his second receiving touchdown of the year. Jack McDevitt had an interception defensively. Senior Cayden Mitchell led the Jays defense. Next up, the Jays are going up against the Western Reserve Blue Devils.
October 20, 2023
The varsity Blue Jays football team played at home against their rivalry school, Western Reserve Blue Devils for their final game until the playoffs. Final score against the Devils was 22-7 leading the Jays to a loss. The Jays finished the season with a great 7-3 record which was an amazing accomplishment and qualified to be able to continue to the playoffs. It was a rough battle, but the Jays didn’t give up.
Coach Brode explains, “We just couldn’t produce enough big plays to master up any points.” First quarter Devils were up 0-15. Then, the second quarter Reserve was capable of getting up to 22 points and the Jays still with zero. Third quarter came and Joey Zayas had an 18 yard run which ended the final score to 7-22. Fourth quarter, not much happened on the field to get the scores up. Jack McDevitt had 3 kickoff returns and Keegan White with 1. Vincent Fay carried in Defense with 18 tackles. The coaches were glad to see the Jays push through challenges.
Coach Brode says, “It’s fun coaching this group of athletes because they buy into the program and believe in the coaching staff.”
David Osborne said, “Always play like it’s your last play because you never know when it will be.”
The boys are getting ready for the first round of OHSAA playoffs against Mineral Ridge. The Blue Jays worked hard for their accomplishments and had a great season.
