JERSEY - The Jersey Community High School freshman-sophomore football team finished with a perfect 8-0 mark under Coach Chris Skinner after a 50-12 win over Civic Memorial.
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The Panthers had a very difficult schedule with wins over Triad, Marion, and Waterloo, all with solid records this season. Skinner said the Panthers were strong on defense throughout the fall campaign and credited James Medford, the defensive coordinator for always having the defense ready for action.
Coach Skinner is retiring from teaching at the end of this school year after 34 years. Coach Skinner also produces exceptional Jersey girls and boys bowling teams every year and assists Darren Perdun, the head baseball coach, in the spring and with Perdun has been a key to their constant success.
“We had some really good kids this year with the freshman-sophomore team,” he said.
“They had a really good work ethic and they refuse to lose. That was their mentality. The boys did a great job all year long.”
Skinner didn’t want to single out one particular player but said they each played a role in the historic Panther season.
“They were a great overall group of kids, no matter if they played every down or 10 downs a game,” he said. “It was a total team effort. I had several kids play different positions. I also can’t praise Coach Medford enough for what he did with the defense. We didn’t give up many points all season.”
Coach Skinner said the sky is the limit for this group of freshman and sophomore boys as they transition to varsity next season. He said there were five boys who played varsity and weren’t able to play with the freshman-sophomore group, but they still posted a perfect season.
“The boys knew after week three and they were undefeated to remember to practice like you are perfect and they would play like they were perfect,” he said. “They played like they were perfect the last five weeks. It is nice knowing we beat everybody in our conference.”
Coach Skinner said in his 34 years he has formed lasting relationships with many of the players in the different sports he coached and also as a physical education teacher. He said he has even coached some sons or daughters of individuals he coached in earlier times.
Coach Skinner is uncertain right now whether he will continue to coach after this school year, but if he never steps foot on a football field again, he walks off a winner on the gridiron.
The roster for the JCHS freshman-sophomore football squad was as follows:
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