Sea of red swarms Festus, inciting fierce Jackson blowout in senior night fight

Jackson's Drew Parsons dives for the pylon during a Friday, October 25, 2024 game between the Jackson Indians and the Festus Tigers at "The Pit" in Jackson, Mo. Jackson defeated Festus, 43-7.

Cole Lee ~ clee@semoball.com

Debuting the long-awaited red chrome helmets in front of a jam-packed senior night crowd, Jackson had no trouble dispatching Festus in a monstrous 43-7 win in the regular season finale.

The Indians (7-2) turned a tight projection into a forceful start as they broke out of a 4th-and-medium to go up on the Tigers (7-2) early, never looking back.

Jackson scored on each of its first five drives, and Festus never scored an offensive point in the first half as the Indians again used those first two quarters to build an unrelenting lead and rarely showed any give.

After starting just 1-2, Jackson’s sixth straight win put a cherry on top of what’s been a brisk return to form, winning comfortably over one of the St. Louis Metro’s fastest-rising squads in the (then) one-loss Tigers.

“I couldn't be more pleased,” Jackson coach Ryan Nesbitt said.

“I thought our kids played incredibly hard, physical and disciplined, so I’m really excited for them.”

The highlights of the night for the Indians were mostly defensive, leaning on a backend blowout that resulted in a whopping goose egg on the scoreboard for the Festus offense.

In total, the high points of the night for Jackson’s defense were as follows: Three interceptions, a blocked punt, a blocked field goal and, once again, not a point allowed.

Festus, with just one prior loss coming against Class 6-ranked De Smet Jesuit, looked simply unprepared for a defense as fast and fluent as Jackson’s, and it was frankly apparent.

Quarterback Essien Smith was on the move all night thanks to Jackson’s newfound defensive line talent that’s guided it to new life on defense, and it resulted in some big plays for the “D.”

“They've continued to show up,” Nesbitt said of the defense. “They’ve gotten better each week, and I'm really proud for them to have a complete performance tonight.”

Who scored the first helmet in Jackson’s return to the spear domes? Drew Parsons, who scampered in on a short 5-yard rush to give the hosts the lead in the game’s opening phases.

One Festus punt later, Jaylon Hampton broke loose on a run right and found daylight for a long rushing score to double that lead, and a Kai Crowe field goal shortly thereafter made it a three-score lead.

Scoring on each of its first five drives, Drew Parsons looked up to snuff all the way up until the sixth drive, when a short pass across the middle went back for 60 yards and a Festus touchdown to end the scoreless opening for the Tigers.

Nevertheless, Blayne Reagan put an emphatic close to the first half with and end zone interception to keep the halftime score stable at 26-7 in favor of the Indians.

Looking to spark up the second half, Parsons answered the call with a 70-plus-yard scrambling score to get Jackson on the board in the third.

One blocked punt later, Zach Crump made good on a short field to get Jackson another touchdown to further that lead to 33 points, and another Crowe field goal, this time from 41 yards out, gave Jackson its running clock.

On his senior night, Crowe stepped up to the occasion and then some, racking in a couple of nice catches while also knocking in three field goals on three tries.

In a squad not necessarily dictated by senior talent, Crowe’s been a very vocal centerpiece in the ascension of the Indians back into the fold after a sloppy start to the year.

“​​Our team needs a vocal leader,” Crowe said. “I mean, we’ve got leaders all over the place, but we don't have a lot of talkers.”

The kicker, punter, receiver and spark plug put the bow on a 43-7 final, allowing the second-string defenders to run the clock down as Jackson wrapped up a blowout victory over a fearsome foe.

It can only be written so many times how big a deal it is to knock off Festus in such a manner, so we’ll pan the focus out to the future now that Jackson’s one step closer to new life in the playoffs.

Now that the regular season’s conclusion is past us, the postseason looms with a very familiar outlook, and I’ll open up the crystal ball to spell it out for you.

As it stands, Jackson’s first three postseason games would likely be: Home against Lindbergh, away against Seckman, home against Christian Brothers.

Sound familiar? It should, because that’s exactly how Jackson’s postseason unfolded last year as the Indians rode the wave all the way into the Class 6 quarterfinals in Year 1 among MSHSAA’s top ranks.

“We'll just enjoy tonight, and we'll start that process in looking at our opponents in the morning,” Nesbitt insisted.

Last year, the talk of the town was the sophomore quarterback Drew Parsons making his debut after the untimely exit of sensational senior passer Adrian Fox, which raised a lot of questions.

Parsons showed out early in Jackson’s postseason run, but left a lot to be desired against Christian Brothers in a disheartening loss in the quarterfinal stage.

A year older and a year wiser, the now-junior leader of these Indians seems eagerly prepared to enter another postseason with his men, looking to get back on the right foot this playoff year.

“We feel good,” Parsons said. “We really just want to compete. That's all we want to do.

“We don't care who we're playing, we're just gonna go out, compete and play our best football.”