Jackson look back: Jackson dream falls short again in 1995

Jackson senior football player Chris Inman holds the second place trophy as it was presented to him after his team lost to Camdenton 20-19 in the MSHSAA 1995 Class 4 state championship game at Plaster Field in Springfield.

Associated Press file

A year older and wiser, the Jackson Indians seemed to use a strategy employed on them a year earlier when they returned to the Class 4A final.

To their dismay, it backfired in a 20-19 loss to Camdenton in the 1995 championship game.

In 1994, Excelsior Springs had scored on its first two possessions of the state final and hung on for dear life for a 12-6 win over the Indians.

Despite graduating 21 seniors from that team, the Indians returned to the state championship game in 1995 behind the burly running duo of senior Nathan Norman and junior Glenn Brunke.

In the playoffs, the Indians discarded Hillsboro, Gateway Tech and Mexico to reach the final, played at Plaster Field at the then-called Southwest Missouri State (Missouri State now) in Springfield, Missouri.

Against Camdenton, Jackson took the opening kickoff and drove 70 yards in nine plays. Brunke crashed in from 8 yards out less than four minutes into the game and Mike Gross added the extra point.

The Indians then held the Lakers to without a first down and needed just four plays to strike for a second touchdown, a 38-yard strike from Gross to Travis Reiminger, who made a one-handed catch and outran the defense. The extra-point failed, but it didn’t seem like it would matter. It appeared the Lakers were overmatched, trailing 13-0 at the 5:09 mark of the first quarter.

However, the script would flip, much as it did a year earlier when Jackson dominated over the final three quarters in a futile attempt to catch Excelsior Springs. And the missed PAT became a theme.

Jackson would not score on its next seven possessions.

“A year ago we felt we came out on our heels and waited for things to happen,” Jackson coach Carl Gross said. “Tonight we came out and were super ready and made unbelievable plays the whole football game. We just got stale and a lot of that was caused by Camdenton.”

Camdenton scored early in the second quarter on a 52-yard run by Neil Box, but Jackson led 13-7 at halftime. The Lakers moved ahead 14-13 with 3:59 left in the third quarter on a 7-yard run by Jonathon Sweatt, then padded the lead two possessions later on a 16-yard run by quarterback Zach Franklin with eight minutes left in the game.

The Indians then marched 80 yards on their next possession, with Norman scoring from 7 yards out with 4:41 left. Down 20-19, the Indians’ PAT sailed just wide of the right upright, which may have been due to the narrower uprights used on college fields.

The total yardage of the game reflected the tight scoreboard: The Lakers led by one, 303-302.

“The kids played their tails off,” said Jackson coach Carl Gross. “I’m sick for them. They played like champions today.”