
The Jefferson Rockets continue their undefeated season (5-0) as they prepare to host West Greene on Friday night, Sept. 27. This matchup also gives Jefferson the chance to sweep every Greene County team this season.
“It will be a great accomplishment for the team and the school,” said Shane Ziats, Jefferson head coach. “I don’t know if the school has ever done it, but it will definitely be a step in the right direction.”
The Rockets also come into this game on the losing end of the last eight matchups against West Greene, with their last win coming on Sept. 4, 2015. However, things could change this year.
“They’re still a really good football team, they lost some people but they still have some good players,” Ziats said.
The last game for Jefferson ended in a 21-6 victory over Carmichaels. During this matchup on Sept. 20, of then two undefeated teams,they went into the half up by one with a score of 7-6. Jefferson would go on to score two more touchdowns in the second half to give Carmichaels their first loss of the season.
“It was just the difference in effort in the first half,” said Caleb Gallagher, Jefferson offensive coordinator. “It was just a battle of who wanted it more and they put in a good effort in the first half, so we cleaned some things up and were able to get it done.”
For West Greene and second year head coach Beau Jackson, they came into the season with some uncertainties after a large graduating affected the football team’s roster. They started their season 0-3 before beating Avella and Mapletown to sit at 2-3.
“We know we had two things against this season with a tough non-conference schedule, and secondly, a big graduating class,” Jackson said. “We knew we would have a shot if we could get into conference play without injuries, and everything went as expected.”
The Pioneers come into the game in a three way tie for first place alongside Jefferson and California in the Tri-County South Conference.
“They are a tough team; they can cause a lot of problems for us but if we do what we need to do it can be a tight 4 quarter game.” Jackson said.
As stated, the last game for West Greene was a 37-8 victory over Mapletown. The Maples scored first taking the 8-0 before West Greene scored 37 unanswered points.
“It went well for us,”Jackson said. “We started off slow, not scoring in the first quarter but were able to score three touchdowns before half and just extend the lead from there.”
The game will take place at Jefferson’s Parker field on Friday Sept. 27, at 7 p.m.