Jacksonville Crimsons Pigskin Preview

Jacksonville Crimsons
 

COACH: Mark Grounds (80-62, 15th season at Jacksonville)
2014 RECORD: 4-5 (4-5 in CS8)

 
TOP RETURNEES: WR-DB C.J. Wright (13 catches, 127 yards, 1 TD; 21 tackles, 4 interceptions), RB-DB Klay Wood (257 rushing yards, 14 TDs; 55 tackles, 3 interceptions), TE-LB Adam Hillis (12 catches, 113 yards, 1 TD; 39 tackles), Line Cole Wilson, WR James White (63 catches, 790 yards, 5 TDs), WR Noah Pickens (33 catches, 486 yards, 6 TDs), RB Matt Rooney (863 yards, 9 TDs), QB Joe Brannan (2,216 passing yards, 16 TDs), RB-LB Braxton Criss (54 rushing yards; 59 tackles), Line Corey Ruyle 

BIGGEST LOSSES: Line Gabe Megginson, DB Juan Jackson, DB Dillon Pennell, Colton Hillis

WHAT THE CRIMSONS DO WELL: Play offense. Because of injuries and inexperience last season, Jacksonville used a lot of young players. Sophomores like James White, Klay Wood and Corey Ruyle were thrown into the mix right away, and they got better as the season wore on. White is the top returning receiver in the CS8, and Wood is the second-leading returning scorer in the league. Joe Brannan was a first-year starter at quarterback, and he’s the No. 2 returning passer in the league. Although Gabe Megginson has moved on to the University of Illinois, there are four starters returning on the offensive line, led by Ruyle. The defense is anchored by Braxton Criss and Wood, and the Crimsons have to improve on the 301 points they allowed last season.
 

JACKSONVILLE QUESTION MARKS:  Jacksonville has to eliminate some of the turnovers that led to a 1-3 start last year and backed the Crimsons into a corner they were not able to escape. And Jacksonville has to tackle better. “When we tackled well, we were in games,” coach Mark Grounds said. “When we didn’t tackle well it was a track meet.” Jacksonville allowed 39 or more points in the five games it lost and just 66 total points in its four wins.

WORTH NOTING:  Jacksonville has qualified for the postseason eight times in the past 12 seasons and three times in the past five years. And even through the Crimsons won three of their final five games, they still came up short last season. . . . Jacksonville has had a quarterback pass for at least 1,700 yards for seven straight seasons. . . . Entering his 15th season as head coach, Grounds is the second-longest tenured and second-winningest coach in JHS history. Only the legendary Robert Kraushaar, who won 152 games in 28 seasons, won more and served longer.
 

COACH MARK GROUNDS SAYS: “The community wasn’t happy not to make the playoffs last season because we’ve come to expect it. We used it as a learning experience, and in areas where we needed to make changes, we’re not going to go about things the same way and expect the same results. We were on the field at 6:20 in morning this summer. We averaged 85 kids a day and we had the largest freshman turnout ever. We used little things like that to get our kids, our coaches out of a comfort zone. We’ve got to get this back where we expect it to be. Right now we’re on a one-game game and a one-year losing streak and both have to change really quickly. We can’t take success for granted. Unfortunately we did that. My entire offseason wasn’t about Xs and Os but program management, how we can take average kids and make them be above-average kids. We all worked extremely hard. "

– Jim Ruppert