North Jackson running back Trey Harris breaks around DAR defender Bryce Fowler during their prep football game against DAR at North Jackson High School on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Stevenson, Ala.STEVENSON, Ala. – The rebuilding project is nearly complete at North Jackson High School. Mark Rose is entering the third year of his second stint at one of the area’s most successful football programs and admitted it took longer than expected to get things back to the point it had been.
“The kids worked hard the last couple of years just to get things built back up to where it’s supposed to be,” said Rose, who took over a program that had sunk to just one win the year before his return. “We were a lot tougher team right from the start, but now you can kind of see that old confidence and swagger is back. We’ve won enough to get to the playoffs the last two years, and now we’re hungry to go further.”
Rose guided the Chiefs to seven-win seasons each of his first two years back, and with the return of nine starters – five offensive, four defensive – from last year’s 7-5 team that was region runner-up and lost in the second round of the Alabama playoffs, the expectations of a Region 7-4A championship and deeper playoff run also have returned.
Two big reasons for that are the backfield senior tandem of quarterback Trey Harris (6-0, 170) and running back Omar Brown (5-10, 205). They each averaged more than 6.5 yards per carry and combined for 2,500 rushing yards last year, led by Brown’s 1,700-plus. Harris added 1,600-plus in passing yards and threw and ran for 32 touchdowns, while Brown also led the team in kickoff returns.
Devan Ballard (5-6, 170) is another speedster with big-play potential who likely will have an increase in touches this season.