Indians on bye week; prepare for homecoming game in Tyler

by By Aaron Swink Contributing Sports Writer

The Jacksonville Indians took advantage of their bye last week to rest, recover, study and prepare for the grind of District 9-5A-II play, which kicks off with a rare Thursday night tilt against Nacogdoches at Rose Stadium in the 2018 Homecoming game.

Jacksonville finished the non-district portion of the schedule with a 1-2 mark, dropping the opener at Carthage before topping Palestine for the first time in the Wayne Coleman era. Week 3 was a tough pill to swallow, as the Tribe was edged by the Henderson Lions.

The early portion of the season saw the Tribe putting some new tactics in place with the switch to a varied defensive scheme and a concerted effort to be more balanced offensively between the running and passing attacks.

Coordinator Kenny Canady’s defense has started to come into its own in recent weeks, including registering two scores in the second half of the Palestine game. The defensive boost comes at exactly the right time, as the potent offenses of the majority of district opponents will challenge the Tribe from now until early November.

The Indian offense is off to a somewhat slower start in 2018 than in recent past seasons. While some of the issues on that side of the ball are clearly attributable to the competition the Tribe has faced, coordinator Randall Canady will be looking for even more production from junior quarterback Tristen Shewmake and the offense as district play gets rolling. Thus far, the Tribe has averaged 29.7 points per game on an average of 257 yards per game. The Tribe offense has been to the endzone ten times against four giveaways.

Defensively, Jacksonville has improved significantly in the last two non-district contests. Kenny Canady's charges were well on their way to reclaiming the "Dark Side" moniker bestowed upon the most fearsome Indian units of the 1990s after the Palestine game.

After three games, the defense has helped the team to a plus-three turnover margin by snagging five interceptions and two fumbles. Steady play from seniors Deshawn McCuin, Brealyn Riden and Steve Gallegos has paced the defense to this point.

The first district test for the Indians comes Thursday night as the Nacogdoches Golden Dragons roll into Rose Stadium. The Dragons finished their non-district slate with a record of 1-2. The Dragons opened the season with a win over Class 4A Kilgore before dropping decisions to their local rivals in Lufkin and also falling to Tyler Lee.

After the Tribe and Dragons do battle on Thursday the rest of Jacksonville’s district schedule shapes up as follows: October 5 at Whitehouse, October 12 vs Pine Tree at Rose Stadium, October 19 at Marshall, October 26 vs Hallsville at Bullard High School, November 2 at Mount Pleasant, November 9 at Lindale in the regular season finale.

The playoff race in the new eight-team District 9-5A-II should be wide open. With the top four teams advancing to the state playoffs and a team that appears to be picking up steam on both sides of the football, Jacksonville fans can be excited about their team’s chances to be making travel plans on the second weekend of November.