The ‘Jackson Co. Championship’

Both teams have beaten Jackson County, leaving this game to decide local supremacy. If the Dragons win Friday, they would celebrate a perfect 3-0 run through the schools that lie within Jackson County’s borders, having also beaten Commerce.

“It would be really good because we haven’t really had a chance to play all three county schools,” Dragon running back Chris Jackson said.

This is the third meeting between the Dragons and the Eagles. Jefferson beat East Jackson 35-21 last year in a battle of unbeatens to win the Region 8-AA title.

Dragon coach T. McFerrin likes the extra incentive of an unofficial county championship being on the line Friday.
“That’s good for community spirit and school pride and all that,” McFerrin said. “That’s always good to play for.”

East Jackson is coming off a 20-0 loss to high-powered Elbert County. McFerrin is plenty impressed with the Eagles, who stand tied with the Dragons in fourth in the 8-AA South standings. Led by players like C.J. Allen, East Jackson operates out of the Wing-T offensively and a 3-3-5 defensively.

“They’ve got some great skill people and some great linemen and they play really good defense,” McFerrin said. “They held Elbert County to 20 points.”

East Jackson’s 3-3-5 defensive scheme is something that Jefferson is not overly accustomed to facing.

“It’s not something you see every day,” McFerrin said. “It’s just different from anything else you see. You don’t prepare for it as often as you have to prepare for something like the 4-3.”

As with the Dragons’ other two intra-county games, there will be a lot of familiarity when the two teams lineup Friday.

“I’ve got some cousins who play for them,” said Jackson, who has 405 yards rushing this year. “It’s going to be another good matchup because (they have) C.J. Allen, T.C. (Tyler Collins), Jermaine Davis and all them over there. It’s going to be a good game.”

Jefferson is coming off a 42-21 whipping of Jackson County in the first meeting between the schools in 25 years (Click here for the story). Shirreffs threw for 212 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Dragons to their highest offensive output of the season. Shirreffs now has 1,091 passing yards on the year.

Jefferson won the game on the strength of a dominant first half as the Dragons took a 35-0 lead into the locker room.

McFerrin said he was pleased with his team’s efficiency in the first two quarters.

“Yeah, I think probably the best we’ve had all year offensively and defensively,” McFerrin said.

Jefferson hopes that carries over to Friday.

With county pride at stake, this is the second straight game the Dragons can expect to draw a big home crowd. Shirreffs expects the same type of atmosphere with East Jackson Friday that Jefferson saw last week with Jackson County.

“I know they’ll be a tough team,” he said of East Jackson Friday following the Dragons’ win over Jackson County. “It’s a big rivalry also. It should be packed (this) week. It will be similar to this (the Jackson County game). It will be a fun environment.”