As a second-grade student at Andrew Jackson Elementary School, I was put in a “gifted” class. Back then, they called it “enrichment.” Someone clearly made a clerical error, but either way, I was there and just trying to fake it ‘til I made it.
I still have a distinct memory of sitting in the library during our first meeting and the teacher asking us to brainstorm about a specific topic.
None of us in the group seemed to know what a brainstorm was, but then the teacher just told us to say whatever came to mind about our topic. Simple enough.
Even though I can remember what the library looked like – the coziness of the beanbags, the lamps on the bookshelf – I can’t recall the topic. I still brainstorm a lot, though, and I want to do one here, in real-time, for this article.
The topic: Jackson Central-Merry Cougar Football Players and Coaches. Here we go:
Al Wilson. Wesley Barlow. Bryant Cherry. Reggie Ward. Starsky Ross. Artis Hicks. Brian Sowell. Brian Davis. Jason Montgomery. Brent Bledsoe. Ricky Collins. Jim Hardegree. Joe Davis. Tommy Allen. Frank Shelton. Bobby Jelks.
I could probably keep going, but the momentum of my memory was starting to slow down midway through the coaches’ names. For whatever reason, these were the people my brain could easily retrieve from its deep pool of long-term memories, the ones floating helplessly near the surface.
I was a student at JCM from 1993 to 1997, so every name listed above was part of the program at some point in those four years. Besides Al Wilson (arguably the most famous Cougar of all time), I don’t have much logic as to why those particular names were so easily recalled. I’m sure there are factors at work in my subconscious, and a brainstorm on the same topic a week from today would probably include different names from that era.
Last January, I started teaching English at JCM in the same building where I attended high school. We called it the East Campus back then. Before that, though, it was known as Merry High. The building is beautiful inside; it’s been refurbished and renovated to the point where it’s difficult for me to recognize certain parts of the building because it looks so different compared to when I was a student. I’m actually a little jealous that I couldn’t attend high school in this facility.
I haven’t been part of the entire rebirth process of JCM that started two years ago, but I’m excited to be here now and even more excited that another piece of the puzzle will fall into place on Friday night. Once again, the JCM Cougars will kick off their varsity football season as members of Region 6 in District 2A.
Just like I could recall the names of players and coaches who took the field at Rothrock Stadium on Hayes Avenue, I’ve also had a flood of memories wash over me about those Friday nights in East Jackson when I was in high school.
I stood on the sideline for most football games during my sophomore year – drying off footballs or handing water to players. In my junior year, I was in the press box filming the games. By my senior year in high school, I toyed with the idea of stepping on the field. I was 6’2, but my height wasn’t the issue; it was my weight. I barely weighed 155 lbs. A strong wind could’ve knocked me down; I shuddered to think what a middle linebacker would do to me if I ran a slant over the middle. So, I settled into my role as a fan, and I wish I had appreciated it more in the moment.
I have flashes of memories now of cool autumn nights watching Wesley Barlow juke defenders like he was Barry Sanders. I can still see Al Wilson – a man among boys – attacking a gap in the line to deliver a bone-crunching hit on a defenseless running back. I can’t quite make out the image of Brian Sowell running downhill from his safety position to plant someone in the ground, but I sure as hell can still hear it. And, at the end of the game – when the victory was sealed, I can still hear the Cougar band play the familiar victory song; the beat was infectious. I didn’t know what it was then and I’m still not quite sure of the title, but my band friends told me something from “Boyz in the Hood.” Were they talking about the movie or the Easy E song? Who knows? I was just a lame, white kid having the time of my life.
I’m much older now. Those Friday night lights have faded a lot in my mind, but this Friday night, those lights will be as bright as ever for a new crop of Cougars who step on the field at Liberty High School. The uniform’s design is the same – same font, same color. They’re a little more bold now, though, than they were in 1996. That green looks a little stronger than it did back then.
These young men will start to carve their own legacies like Barlow, Wilson, Ward, and all the other legendary Cougars nearly three decades ago. Maybe one day, some students I’m teaching right now in my junior English class will think back to their own high school days and remember how great those Friday nights were watching JCM run up and down the field.
Like any new program, there are bound to be growing pains. There will be missed blocking assignments, over-pursuit on a counter run, and routes that are run too long or too short. Those growing pains will be learning lessons, and we’ll all be there to support that growth.
We’re just happy the best football program in Jackson is back on the field.
2 Comments
Comments are closed.