Jackson Central-Merry
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Week 9 takeaways
What to take away from each result in rural West Tennessee in Week 9
Week 9 Blitz
Your guide to this week's games across rural West Tennessee.
Early look at playoff races in each region
Who's in the playoffs, who's not, who's in contention for region championships
Week 8 Blitz
Your guide to this week's games across rural West Tennessee.
Week 7 Takeaways
What to take away from each result in rural West Tennessee in Week 7
Week 7 Blitz
Your guide to this week's games across rural West Tennessee.
Week 6 Takeaways
What to take away from each result in rural West Tennessee in Week 6
Week 6 Blitz
Your guide to this week's games across rural West Tennessee.
Blitz Top 10 after Week 5
A couple of teams re-enter the ranking
Week 5 Blitz
Your guide to this week's games across rural West Tennessee.
Week 4 Takeaways
What we took away from the results from Week 4
Takeaways from Week 3
What to take away from each result in rural West Tennessee in Week 3
Quick hits
The Cougars’ schedule is front-loaded with games against bigger schools and region and state championship contenders in the first half of the year. The Cougars started out 1-5 in 2025 but won four straight to end the regular season and qualify for the playoffs in the final week.
After winning the coveted Commissioners’ Cup (the bragging rights trophy among the four teams in Jackson-Madison County Schools) in 2024, the Cougars fell short of the trophy last year after falling to North Side in Week 1. Considering the Cougars and Indians are probably the two main contenders again this year, the trophy is expected to be unofficially decided again in the first week at North Side.
JCM had a memorable season in 2024 in which they finished third in the region but were undefeated going into early October. Last year, because of the success the previous year, they weren’t able to fly under the radar as much and more teams were better prepared for them. They could be hoping for another chance to be under the radar again in 2026.
The Cougars picked up Lee Hooper as their defensive coordinator right after dead period in July. Hooper was the head coach at Scotts Hill for a couple years and before that was a well-respected coordinator on both sides of the ball who will help guide the defensive talent for the Cougars.
The program is looking forward to its first full season with its own stadium after its stadium opening last year was delayed until Homecoming Week in October.
Position groups
Offensive line — There are two returning starters here - Michael Gant and Jessie Haynes. The center will be Cederious Smith; on the right side of the line will be Kyle Driver at tackle and Jaydon Knight at guard. Jayland Eckford, who’s committed to play college ball at Austin Peay, will be tight end.
Backfield — There are two returning starters here with Tashawn Currie and Amir Bond at running back. Jamarious Douglas is moving to the backfield as quarterback from wideout, and J.J. Musgraves could see snaps back there too.
Receivers — There are no returning starters here, so the coaching staff has been working with sophomores and incoming transfers on helping them learn the playbook to use their physical gifts to move the ball down the field.
Defensive line — Nico Brown, Gant and Braxton Ramsey are returning starters that will be joined by Jessie Haynes up front.
Linebackers — Along with Eckford, guys like Tashawn Currie and Amir Bond are also in the rotation, but Turner said this group’s depth chart is written in pencil and not pen so they can erase and make revisions.
Secondary — Kavaris Massey, Cayden Hill, Keyvon Marshall and Malachi Morgan will be the guys covering the opposing receivers and making sure to try to lock down passing attacks.
Special teams — Walker Maharrey is coming back as kicker. Other positions would be decided later in the summer.
2026 stats
No stats yet this season. They appear here once a game's book has been read and checked.