PREVIEW: Kroger KSR Hometown Classic - Jackson County at Shawnee
The inaugural Kroger KSR Hometown Classic takes place this Friday at 7:30 p.m. EST and features the Jackson County Generals traveling to Louisville to take on the Shawnee Golden Eagles. The first edition of the Kroger KSR Classic was supposed to take place last year but was canceled due to COVID-19.
A Game Bigger than Football
The last time these teams faced off, Jackson County took down the Golden Eagles 30-20. The score however was insignificant. At the height of the COVID pandemic, Shawnee was hard-pressed to find any teams able to travel to Louisville. Jackson County reached out to them and agreed to travel 143 miles away for a game that was bigger than football.
“I was on my Twitter, and I saw an article from Jason Frakes for the Courier Journal, he did a story on Shawnee and some of the schools that canceled because of security concerns,” then Jackson County coach John Hallock said in an interview with KSR in October 2020. “When I read the article, we needed a game, they needed a game. … I reached out to the AD and said, “Hey, do you want to play? If my administration’s good with this, I’m good with it. If you all are good with it, let me know.”
New Faces in New Places
Jackson County is now led by coach Nick Sizemore. The Generals come into the game 0-3 and have been outscored 135-22 on the season. The Generals have lost eight straight contests dating back to September 18 of last year, where they defeated Jenkins 44-8.
Shawnee is led by Vernon Gibson Jr, is also 0-3, and has been outscored 106-6 so far in this young season. The Golden Eagles are also riding an eight-game losing streak dating back to September 17 of last year, where they defeated Trimble County 14-0. The similarities between these two teams are uncanny, and a losing streak will be broken.
“This year we got new coaches, new coaching staff, a lot of new players and I feel like we’re really going to do a lot better this year in certain areas that we didn’t last year,” said Jackson County quarterback Ashton Ward in an interview with WYMT Mountain Sports earlier this year.
Will this be the week things click for the Generals?
Shawnee coach Vernon Gibson Jr. was hired right before last season kicked off, so he didn’t have much time to build a culture at the school. This summer, the Golden Eagles started an offseason lifting program in preparation for Class 2A football. Three weeks into the season, the Golden Eagles are still trying to find their footing.
Kroger KSR Hometown Classic Championship
KSR and Kroger are honored to present the inaugural Kroger KSR Hometown Classic as the Kroger KSR Game of the Week. We look forward to seeing these communities come together to celebrate the game of football. Kroger and KSR representatives will be at the game supporting both schools and will proudly be presenting a trophy to the winning team.
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