Staff photo / Brian Yauger Jackson-Milton quarterback Cayden Mitchell throws a pass during a 7-on-7 passing scrimmage at Campbell Memorial High School. Mitchell takes over under center for the Blue Jays after the graduation of Alex Schiavi.

NORTH JACKSON — The Blue Jays see an opportunity this year.

They’re full of experience, and they’re hungry. Motivated by a “Why not us?” attitude, Jackson-Milton is looking to turn some heads this season.

The Blue Jays are very upperclassmen-heavy and they want to rely on that to push them over the top.

“When you get a good group of 10 seniors and nine juniors, so to get more than half your roster as upperclassmen that have experience, that’s a good thing,” Blue Jays coach Nathan Brode said.

Last season’s senior class held leadership positions in the locker room. While on-field progress is exactly where he wants it to be, Brode is waiting for one of the kids to shine through and be a ‘lead by example’ type of player for the rest of the team.

“We graduated a good group of athletes that really led by example,” Brode said. “They led in the classroom, they led in the locker room and they led on the field. The big takeaway is we need somebody in the group of guys to step up and kind of fill that void and be leaders like they were, and I think we’ll be okay if that happens. We’re starting to get guys to come along, we’re just waiting to see who of that group of guys are going to be.”

It’s cliche to say, but the key this season for the Blue Jays is health. They don’t have a large roster, so staying healthy at the top is crucial for the team to have success. If everyone is firing on all cylinders and their defense plays like last season, they are confident.

The defense is a large source of that confidence.

“We need to stay healthy. We don’t have a lot of depth starter wise. We’ve got to stay healthy,” Brode said. “Offensively, we got to limit our turnovers and finish drives with kicks, whether they’re extra points or field goals with our kicker. Then defensively we’ve just got to play just like we played last year. We had four shutouts last year. We had one more shutout with three minutes to go in the game, so we were looking at almost five shutouts in an 11-game season.

Staff photo / Brian Yauger
Jackson-Milton’s Jonah French holds on to the ball during a 7-on-7 passing scrimmage against Campbell Memorial this month.

“That’s the most Jackson-Milton has had in over 40 years, so hopefully, our guys can take a little bit of that and what the taste of what that feels like and produce more shutouts and just limit the explosive plays. We did a good job of being coached up last year and doing what we were coached up to do and we limited those explosive plays. I think if we do that we’ll be okay.”

It’s been over four decades since Jackson-Milton’s last league title.

While knowing it’s an uphill battle — and it always is in the MVAC — the mantra this season is “Why not us?”

They know they have to go out and make it happen, but there’s a scrappy attitude among the program that is ready to scrap and claw to reach that goal.

“We have a tough division every year,” Brode said. “The kids play so well and they play hard for their coaches. We just want to be in position to be in that conversation to be up for a championship. It’s been 42 years since Jackson-Milton has won a league championship. That’s one of the things I preached to these guys. Why can’t it be us one year? Why do we have to continue to wait? We’re excited this may be an opportunity for us.”

In order to move toward that goal, the Blue Jays will take on the Mathews Mustangs in Week 1 and they are looking to take it one step at a time.

“We want to get better. We want to start by winning our first game,” Brode said. “So many years, that first game dictates a lot of how your season goes, so we’re putting a lot of emphasis on Mathews and doing what we can do in practice, in the film room, in the locker room, in the weight room to make sure we putting our best play on tape during that game. I think if we can get off on the right foot, we’ll be okay.

“We started two out of the last three years with 4-0 records. I don’t want to start with four right now, I just want to go 1-0, but if we can get off to a good start, I think our goal is being a contender in the league, making the playoffs, and winning a game in the playoffs. I think those can all be achievable if we start out well.”

OFFENSE

Under center for Jackson-Milton this season will be senior Cayden Mitchell, who backed up Alex Schiavi last season and saw success in limited action.

While primarily playing wide receiver last season, Mitchell threw five passes and completed four for a total of 20 yards. But, he can do a little bit of everything.

“He played running back in our playoff game. He played running back in weeks 9 and 10 as well,” Brode said. “We’ve listed him as an athlete on our roster. We don’t really see him as a position, but this year he’ll be listed as a quarterback. He’s just an athletic individual and works hard and wants to do well. Good player, and he’s just so versatile. And we’re happy he’s with us for sure.”

There’s continuity in the running back room as well.

Keegan White and Joey Zayas both saw touches a year ago and will have an expanding role in the offense.

“They did really well for us, and we’re happy to have them back again,” Brode said.

The team’s wide out corps is led by Aiden Stanke, who was a tight end last year. He led the team with an average of 58 receiving yards a game, and had a team-high eight total touchdowns. Now he looks to be the prime receiving target outside. Vincent Fay will play opposite Stanke.

The line for the Blue Jays is plenty experienced. Mason Hughes and Brody Pugh, both seniors, have started since their sophomore year and will each start once again. Junior Jase Greco joins them with a year of experience under his belt at one of the tackle spots. The final spots are currently to be determined.

Staff photo / Brian Yauger
Jackson-Milton’s Nikolas Kovacic works up field during a passing scrimmage against Warren JFK.

DEFENSE

Like at most small schools across the Mahoning Valley, the linemen featured along the offense front will be consistent along the defensive line.

“It’s a small school, we all play both (sides,) so you’ll see the same offensive lineman will play defense, whether it’s defensive tackle or defensive end,” Brode said.

Greco will be the odd man out, but he’ll line up at outside linebacker.

The other linebackers include Jonah French and Stanke.

French, a senior, was a rotation player last year, but is expanding his role this season.

Mitchell and Fay are each returning to their roles as safeties this season. Zayas returns to the cornerback spot and there’s going to be a battle for the final starting role. Lind’nardo Hines and Ashton Green are both in the mix there.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The Blue Jays have a two-year starter returning at kicker in Samuel Conn.

“He’s got a great leg, and he’s a really good kicker, the best kicker we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Brode said. He’ll do the kickoffs and the extra points.

“My first three years, we had to go for two and we had to pooch kick, and then Sammy came along. He left soccer after his freshman year. We were so happy to see him. He was actually in pregame here, he was hitting from 40-yards out. He’s a really good kicker.”

As for punter, that’s still up in the air. The listed skill position players are all in the mix to return kicks and punts.

2023 Schedule

Aug. 17 Mathews 7 p.m.

Aug. 25 at Newton Falls 7 p.m.

Sept. 1 Windham 7 p.m.

Sept. 8 at Mineral Ridge* 7 p.m.

Sept. 15 McDonald* 7 p.m.

Sept. 22 at Springfield* 7 p.m.

Sept. 29 Waterloo* 7 p.m.

Oct. 6 at Lowellville* 7 p.m.

Oct. 13 at Fairport* 7 p.m.

Oct. 20 Western Reserve* 7 p.m.

*Conference game

2022 Results (7-4)

at Leetonia (0-10) W 54-0

Newton Falls (3-7) W 16-14

LaBrae (1-9) W 34-0

at Western Reserve (3-7) W 22-21

Lowellville (11-1) L 20-62

Sebring (0-10) W 41-0

Mineral Ridge (8-3) L 7-42

at Waterloo (3-7) W 7-0

Springfield (7-5) L 7-33

at McDonald (3-7) W 20-7

#at Dalton (10-3) L 7-62

#OHSAA playoffs

Coaching staff

Head coach: Nathan Brode, 7th season, 26-34 record

Staff: Tom Ciccolelli (defensive coordinator), Mike French (offensive line/linebackers), Mike Liberato (quarterbacks/defensive backs), Tyler Halavick (special teams, wide receivers, defensive backs), Steven Yuhas (offensive line/defensive line)

Team facts

Division VI, Region 21

Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference-Scarlet Tier

Players on roster: 31

Returning letterwinners (12): Sammy Conn, Aiden Stanke, Cayden Mitchell, Jonah French, Jase Greco, Keegan White, Vincent Fay, Brody Pugh, Mason Hughes, Joey Zayas, Ashton Green, Anthony Hawksley

2022 season: Jackson-Milton reached the postseason for the first time since Nate Brode took over as the head coach and for the first time since 2016. After winning their first three games last season, the Blue jays split their last eight games and it ended with a playoff loss to Dalton.