The Pioneers of Jonathan Alder will face a team much like Madison County rival London on Friday during the Division III regional semifinals.
Alder (11-0) will make the trip to Teays Valley High School to face Jackson, which will also bring an 11-0 mark into the contest.
The Ironmen will line up in a double tight end formation and play smash-mouth football.
“They are very ‘London-esque,’” said Jonathan Alder head coach Brett Glass. “They are primarily a running team behind a very good offensive line.”
Among Jackson’s guys in the trenches are 240-pound senior Aaron Mahoney, 265-pounder Cody Shrefler (a sophomore) and senior Trevor Norris, who tips the scales at 270.
Jackson’s backfield is led by Jayden Spires, who rushed for 225 yards during last week’s playoff victory over Columbus Centennial.
Brice Graham added 104 during the triumph over the Stars.
The offense is engineered by quarterback Jared Icenhower.
He doesn’t throw the ball often, but can pull it down and gain yardage with his feet if needed.
“Icenhower does a good job of distributing the ball to their playmakers,” said Glass.
While the Ironmen prefer to keep the ball on the ground, they can throw if it’s absolutely needed.
“They’ve got a couple of big tight ends ((Cayden Humphreys, 200 pounds and Treylan Davis, 215 pounds) who can get open and catch the ball,” said Glass.
Jackson played more of a spread offense early in the season, but shifted to its bread-and-butter power game as the campaign progressed.
“We’ve got to stop their ground game,” said Glass. “I know that sounds easy, but we’ve got to slow down both of their running backs.
“We also have to be wary of their passing,” he said. “They can hit a couple of guys if they need to do so.”
The Ironmen will play a 3-4 defense with the intent of shutting down Alder running back Garret Proxmire, who has rushed for more than 1,300 yards this season.
“They blitz, angle and slant a good deal,” said Glass. “Their front seven are very fast and physical.
“Their nose guard (Joey Richison) isn’t big (5-7, 165-pounds), but he moves well,” said Glass.
The Pioneers will still try to establish their ground game, but won’t be afraid to put the ball in the air.
“We’ve thrown the ball more the last couple of weeks than we usually do,” said Glass. “That was out of necessity as London and Thornville-Sheridan were strong against the run.
“Sheridan slowed our running game, but we made some big plays with our passing attack,” he said. “JT (quarterback Keith) made some huge plays.
“We will see what Jackson’s defense gives us and try to maintain balance on offense.”
Glass said the key to victory is fairly simple and goes back to the roots of the sport.
“We’ve got to control things up front,” he said. “We have to establish our running game and stop Jackson on the ground.
“That’s the way football has always been.”