North Side’s football team travels to South Side this week.
Here are a few things to know about the game that may or may not be obvious.
This game is once again the championship for the Commissioners’ Cup.
Both teams have beaten Jackson Central-Merry and Liberty, so they have a 2-0 record in Jackson-Madison County Schools district games.
So leadership from the school district as well as from the County Commission will be on hand to award the winner the trophy.
North Side won the trophy the first two years of its existence. But the Cup has stayed south of the Forked Deer River the past three seasons.
Jerry Neylon was a standout athlete for North Side a little more than a decade ago when the Indians had a couple of unbeaten regular seasons under the leadership of Tab Vowell and made it all the way to the quarterfinals in 2010 and semifinals in 2012 with a perfect record.
Neylon, who was a kick returner, receiver and defensive back for the Indians, turned a lot of heads in a packed house when he ran down Beech running back Jalen Hurd multiple times and kept him from scoring touchdowns on big plays.
Neylon is an assistant coach at South Side this year, coaching with first-year coach Lester Narcisse.
Also on South Side’s coaching staff is another name familiar to West Tennessee high school football fans. Chris Donald, who was a standout player for Huntingdon in the early to mid-2000s is on the Hawks’ staff as well.
The Hawks have dropped four games in a row with the closest game in that stretch coming last week with a 24-21 loss at Bolivar.
This game is also a region game in Region 6-4A. South Side has an 0-2 record with the three top teams in the region remaining on its schedule.
So if the Hawks plan to push for a spot in the playoffs, a win in this game is needed.
The Indians are in better shape when it comes to the playoffs, but they need to keep winning to compete for a top-two finish in the region for a possible home game in the first round of the playoffs.
Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news
