SPORTS

Eagles, Lions playing for home playoff game

Brandon Shields
bjshields@jacksonsun.com
Jackson Christian running back Rufus Whitmore runs for a big gain against Gibson County during their game last week at Jackson Christian.

The football seasons for Jackson Christian and Trinity Christian have mirrored each other for the most part this season.

Neither the Lions nor Eagles got wins against their tough non-region opponents. They both lost in region play to Region 6-2A champion Adamsville. They’ve both beaten everybody else to stake their claim at the second and third positions in the region and secured playoff berths.

That mirror will break at Jackson Christian’s Ronnie Fowler Field this week when the neighboring schools meet to decide not just who wins region runner-up but also who hosts a playoff game next week.

“When you look at what both of us have done this year, I think it’s hard to really have a gauge on our ability levels because our competition outside the region have been so tough,” said Jackson Christian head coach Todd Roland. “We’ve played some very good Division II teams, and TCA has too. We both played USJ and South Gibson and Scotts Hill. I think they played Riverside, and Riverside’s having a good year.”

This week’s matchup between the two appears on the surface to be even.

Jackson Christian has been more solid at the quarterback position with three-year starter Will Buehler holding down that position as long as he’s healthy. He’s got teammates like Gunnar Lewis, Ethan Anderson and Rufus Whitmore helping around him to give the Eagles options offensively.

TCA’s quarterback situation has been a little more fluid as three Lions have started games at the position. Senior Tristan Bonnstetter was starting there, but he was one of a number of players who didn’t dress out at Scotts Hill last week.

“We’ve had some bumps and bruises our guys have dealt with, and we felt it best to hold them out a week and let them heal up knowing we had this big game this week,” said TCA head coach Blake Butler.

Trinity Christian running back Viktor Horton carries the ball against Riverside during their matchup in September.

This will be the closest game TCA will have to a home game in the month of October since the Lions celebrated senior night on Sept. 30.

Butler said the running of Whitmore has been something effective for the Eagles in recent weeks and will be something the Lions will try to stop.

“He gives them another option, and looking at what he’s done, he’s hard to stop when he gets going,” Butler said. “But Buehler is good too. He’s been the consistent one for them all season that’s been able to make plays with his legs if his arm isn’t able to.

“But having both of them there does cause problems for us.”

Buehler’s abilities are largely because of his experience as he’s started at quarterback since he was a sophomore. Whitmore’s are a little more unconventional.

“He lost his goggles the night we went to McKenzie, and he played without being able to see clearly,” Roland said. “It worked. We told him to stay away from the red and run toward the green, and that’s been a good strategy for us.”

It worked last week in a win over Gibson County as well.

“Hopefully it will work against TCA,” Roland said. “Or if that doesn’t maybe something else will.”

If Jackson Christian wins, it will clinch a playoff home game for the first time since the Eagles’ state championship run in 2006.

Brandon Shields, 425-9751