Inclement Weather Cancels Generals' Game Against Jellico

After a record-breaking 2024 season, the Jackson County Generals football team is back in action for yet another season of Friday lights.
Over the span of the past year, we have seen fifteen seniors graduate and three separate standing head coaches. With the departure of an outstandingly talented group of young men and the stepping down of Generals’ coach, Nick Sizemore, the team was bound to commence with a rocky start. This rough patch is something that has been discussed with football faculty and has been described as inevitable. With the loss of a three-year head coach and the renouncement of an early-season-entering coach (Jody Mouser), the Generals have had a less-than-steady beginning to 2025.
Coming off a two-year steamroll, Jackson County’s football program entered the 2A Class and the 6th District. This advancement came with new opponents and a higher level of competitiveness. After many seasons and players put in the work, Jackson County is now devised in the world of high school football— a feat that warrants appreciation.
To begin the season, the Generals were set to take on the Berea Pirates for the annual Battle of Big Hill Bowl. This game would ultimately be rescheduled due to a lack of players on the opposing team. The trophy will be back up for grabs later this season, after two consecutive years on Education Mountain.
Game one for Jackson County took place on August 29th. After a tough fight, the Generals fell to Knott County Central, with a 34-0 loss on home turf. Back in black, the Generals showed an abundance of promising plays (with emphasis in the first quarter) such as those from sophomore Jake Jones. As the night came to a close, Jones spoke about those statistics in an interview— “I think we started off strong– I think we are definitely better than that team. I started off with an interception, picked up a fumble, and recovered it; after halftime, we just lost all our energy and couldn’t do much after that.” That same loss of momentum is something that fellow sophomore, Conner Harrison, spoke about following the night’s game— “We could have blocked better, that’s all we really need. We need to work on the left side of the line… We need to get faster off the ball. One of our problems is we keep jumping off the ball on defense.”
These players were also asked about the preparations needed for the team to prevail in their coming games– number 12, Jake Jones said, “We all need to work harder– we just need to get back with it. We can’t stay down on ourselves, we just have to get back and push for the next game, not worrying about this one.”
The following Friday, September 5th, the Generals hosted their second official game of the season against long-running opponent, the Jellico Tennessee Blue Devils. Weather has historically never been kind to a Generals-Jellico match, and this season’s game proved no different. After only the first quarter, the game was cut short due to copious amounts of lightning in the area. While only a fraction of the game was played, scores were placed in the record books with the Generals falling only a play short, at 8-14. In the night's twelve minutes of play, senior Gage Curtis brought in Jackson County’s first points of the season– scoring a mid-quarter touchdown followed by a momentary lead-sealing two-point conversion.
Despite the season’s launch, the Jackson County Generals are looking to live up to their preceding records. There is still much ball to be played with eight games remaining this season. Be sure to come out and support your Generals, as their next home game is scheduled for this Friday, September 12th, against Casey County.