One season ago, the Jackson football team was a touchdown and two-point conversion away from making it to the Class 6 state championship game.
Last year’s Indians ended up falling to the eventual state champions Lee’s Summit 35-28 on the road, and while they graduated some key talent, they bring back plenty on a team that is hungry to take the next step.
Last fall with now four-year head coach Ryan Nesbitt guiding the team, Jackson not only reached the state semifinals but also three-peated as district champions and won the SEMO North Conference for the eighth year in a row.
Out of the seven Class 6 All-State picks Jackson had in 2025, five of those selections return in seniors left tackle Brayden Harris, running back Jaylon Hampton, wide receiver Jory Thoma, linebacker Joah Moore and junior Memphis Mattox.
Over the offseason, Harris became the fourth Indians offensive lineman to go Division-I this decade by verbally committing to the Big 12 Conference’s Kansas State.
Harris will be blocking for a four-year starter in Hampton that accumulated over 1,700 all-purpose yards and scored 30 touchdowns his junior year.
Hampton, who has several offers to play college football, will be joined in the backfield by Mattox and junior Gage Parker. In his first year of varsity behind Hampton, Parker ran for 648 yards and 10 touchdowns.
As for Thoma, he comes back as Jackson’s leading receiver from last season, where he had a 1,000-yard season while hauling in 13 touchdowns.
Thoma will be rejoined by fellow seniors Evan Turley and Blayne Reagan, who combined for 894 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns last season.
Also continuing to be a factor in the receiving game will be multi-year starting tight end senior Grant Brown. Also in the tight end room will be junior Sam Crowley and freshman Mekhi Carothers.
Perhaps the biggest key, of course, will be replacing all-state quarterback Drew Parsons, who threw for 2,668 yards and 27 touchdowns with only two picks. He also ran for over 500 yards and scored eight times on the ground.
Being tasked with the duty will be junior Tyler Fischer, who actually started in the Indians secondary as a sophomore until he suffered a season-ending injury late in the year.
Lucky for Fischer, he has plenty of weapons and an experienced offensive line to help him in his first year as Jackson’s starting quarterback.
“Everybody has high expectations for Tyler and justifiably so,” Coach Nesbitt said. “He’s incredibly talented, but when you do what I do versus media and fans, there’s a realistic expectation. It’s going to take reps for him.”
Coming back as starters to the offensive line for the Indians with a future Power 4 lineman like Harris will be senior left guard Jace Winston, junior center Brody Swain, senior right guard Gavin Shinn and junior right tackle Colten Abercrombie.
While he wasn’t named all-state like Harris, Shinn did, in fact, earn All-SEMO Conference honors last fall.
Moving over to defense, Moore will continue to lead the unit in his final season after recording a career-high 135 stops, six sacks and nine quarterback rushes in 2025.
In the front seven with Moore will be other well-experienced players like All-SEMO Conference honorees senior defensive end Keegan Brueggeman and senior nose tackle Cameron Caldwell.
Both Brueggeman and Caldwell tied Moore for the second-most sacks on Jackson with six apiece last year. Caldwell also produced the fourth-most stops for Jackson with 69 total tackles, while Brueggeman paced him at 57.
Fellow senior Ayden Jones will also be back on the defense line after having 13 quarterback rushes and one sack.
Going back to linebacker, senior Lukas Cox returns to the fray as he was the Indians third-leading tackler last fall with a total of 72 stops, while he also had 11 rushes and recovered two fumbles.
While also seeing time at running back, Parker is set to start at linebacker as well after having 21 stops as a sophomore. Junior Grant Alspaugh is also expected to make a big jump at linebacker for Jackson’s defense following a 35-tackle season.
As for the secondary, it will be a very experienced unit that returns Blayne Reagan and Mattox at cornerback, while senior Brock Reagan is also back at safety.
Having started since he was a freshman for the Indians, Blayne Reagan finished with 64 tackles and a team-high six interceptions and seven pass deflections last fall.
Thoma, who will play a backup role at safety, finished with three interceptions behind him along with 51 stops.
The other safety role opposite of Brock Reagan will be filled by junior Griffin Parsons as he produced 43 tackles, one interception and forced a fumble his sophomore year.
Brock Reagan comes off a junior campaign where he was a top-10 tackler for Jackson with 57 stops, an interception and three pass breakups.
On top of his duties at corner after recording 42 tackles and three pass deflections a year ago, Mattox is also back as the Indians star kick returner. Last season, Mattox scored numerous touchdowns and had over 500 kick return yards, which earned him all-state as a return specialist.
Mattox will also, of course, continue to see time at running back with Hampton and Parker on offense.
As for special teams, All-SEMO Conference selection Jack Henry Outman is back as Jackson’s kicker, while Brown will serve as punter for the final time.
“This year, we’re getting back to enjoying the process — it’s a completely new team,” Coach Nesbitt said. “Last year was great, but we’re not last year and these guys know that.”
