Eastern hopes to ride historic run deep into playoffs
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REEDSVILLE, Ohio — History might've been made to be broken, but there is only one first time for anything.
The Eastern High School football program of head coach Jason Jackson is in uncharted waters after the Eagles finished 9-1 and earned the No. 1 seed in the postseason.
"Never been the number one seed in the region," coach Jackson said of the Eagles, who are the team to beat in Division VII, Region 27.
A year ago, the Eagles not only won the first playoff game in all of Meigs County history, but Eastern also was a host site for the first time ever in the postseason.
The Eagles, whose lone setback came at home against current Mountain State Class A top-rated and undefeated Tucker County in a 28-22 overtime affair, square off versus No. 16 seed Berne Union (2-8) at 7 p.m. Friday.
"That was a great job by Belpre to get that win," coach Jackson said of Kevin Welsh's Golden Eagles closing out the season with their first victory. "It gave us an extra little bit of boost to get to number one.
"We watched them and they've improved all year. We seen them early in the year versus Waterford and we saw them on film versus Trimble. They played us pretty tough in the first quarter and scored a touchdown on us."
Despite their current record and the position they've put themselves in following the regular season, the Eagles haven't had it easy in 2023.
"Down at Notre Dame we lost two starting running backs and three starting linebackers," stated coach Jackson. "Luckily we had been trying to build depth and Tyler Hill came in to the rescue and I think he rushed for 292 yards down there and scored several touchdowns.
"We ended up with five different linebackers playing for the three, those guys that went down. It's been definitely a lot of adversity and a lot of injuries, but we are pretty much healthy now and getting everyone back. We still got a few guys who are still dinged up, but we are definitely healthier now."
Berne Union can expect to see a healthy dose of running plays.
Eastern enters the playoffs with 3,742 total yards offensively and 3,164 of those have come on the ground via 307 carries. That equates to a little more than 10 yards a tote.
The team has thrown for 578 yards on 42 attempts with 28 completions that include eight touchdowns against two picks.
Two things coach Jackson and his staff stress are to win the play while meeting the goal of getting 3.5 yards per carry, and being opportunistic defensively.
"Very proud of the defense. We practice all the time to make our own breaks, just don't wait for the breaks to happen," coach Jackson continued. "We took the ball away 37 times, 16 interceptions. The rest were fumble recoveries.
"We definitely live by that. It's part of what we do. It's our culture and the guys believe in it. We scored 36 total defensive points, too, so that's really good. I was really proud and happy for those guys with that."
Overall, the Eagles have a plus-27 turnover ratio and increased their yards per carry from 2022 when they averaged almost 7 stripes an attempt.
"Rylee Barrett (120-1,032-13) and Gavin Smith (59-631-5) and Tyler Hill (57-630-11), they've all really contributed to that goal and went above and beyond," Jackson said. "We even have a freshman in Treyvon Rembert (21-294-5). He's definitely going to have a bright future.
"A little bit of a learning curve as a freshman coming in, but he definitely stepped up and helped us when we needed him. All of that wouldn't be happening if we didn't have that offensive line, you know."
As coach Jackson puts it, Brandon Oldaker "is our defensive guy, but he's on that O-line at right guard. Our offensive line leader is Rowan Gilmore (RT). He's one of our guys that hasn't missed one snap this year on the O-line. We've got a freshman center (Brad Dillon) who ended up having to replace our senior center Derek Snedden, who blew his knee out in the first scrimmage.
"Brad has filled in real nice and then we got Matt Marcum (LG) who is our strongest kid. He's definitely just really strong. Mason Sheppard (LT) has really come on and really improved. We can't forget our tight end Cooper Barnett. He's an outstanding blocker, too. Those guys have all come together and gelled well and they really do a great job for our running backs."
Although Barnett (9 of 17, 162 yards, 3 TDs) has played some quarterback, sophomore Ethan Edwards (17 of 23, 353 yards, 5 TDs) has taken the vast majority of snaps at signal-caller.
"Ethan has done an awesome job for us. He's definitely been a great asset and he got some experience last year in games," said the coach, who has watched Gavan Murphy produce 14 grabs for 369 yards and six scores. "He's definitely developed a tremendous work ethic. His nickname is ice.
"He's got ice water in his veins. We ask him to do something and he will get it done. He just makes real good decisions. We haven't had to pass a lot, but he's efficient and sufficient. We're definitely happy with the way he's developed and the way he's come on for us."
Oldaker leads the team with 90 tackles, 11 TFL, nine forced fumbles and four recoveries. Ronnie Golden has forced four fumbles, Barnett a trio while Smith, Blaise Gilmore, CJ Smeeks and kicker Collin Wilcoxen, who has two field goals and has hit 23 of 25 extra points, have two each.
Golden's five sacks pace Eastern, which has received four from Oldaker along with three apiece from Wilcoxen and Smith.
Barnett has two scoop-and-scores while Murphy and Marcum have one apiece. Brady Rockhold leads the Eagles with six interceptions, but Murphy has four and Kam Smith has a pair, both of which he returned for touchdowns.
Assuming the Eagles can avoid the first round upset, they will return to East Shade River Stadium next week against the victor of No. 9 South Gallia and No. 8 Monroe Central.
"It's such a cool atmosphere," coach Jackson explained. "You come here and there's a tailgate down there and everybody is excited. We get our Eagle walk and get to go around through the tailgate and come out. It's just a tremendous place to be on Friday.
"They definitely support their teams. I've said if they had a marble tournament in the parking lot here by the school there would be hundreds of people. It's definitely a really nice place to be and a lot of support."
Although everyone involved with the program wants to have a long run in the postseason, the only focus currently is on Berne Union.
"Our guys are level-headed and they make good decisions," Jackson stressed. "They've tried to be the best they could be not just on the field, but in the classroom and in the weight room. They got that expectation. We've talked about setting the expectation that you win and they've all developed that expectation now. They know any week anybody can beat anybody.
"We talk about that a lot. This first round game, number one against 16, it's happened before. It's happened where a 16 has upset a number one and we've already talked about it. We're definitely trying to make sure that doesn't happen and we're practicing hard and preparing hard for it."
No matter how far Eastern advances into the postseason, it appears the groundwork has long ago been laid for the Eagles to have every chance at success in the years to come.
Eastern also captured the Tri-Valley Conference outright league title for the first time since 2000.
"These guys have had great youth coaches and they've had great middle school coaches," Jackson added. "We've said, you know, their families have raised them right and we're just able to sharpen them as varsity coaches.
"They are built well and they've got a good work ethic, and now we just got to tune them up and sharpen them. They definitely are great kids and great workers, and we're just so happy to be here."
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com