Glenbard N. seeking help for Jackson
QB Gasiorowski could be one to take heat off RB
Heading into the 2013 season, fans and opponents know that Glenbard North’s chances to make another run to the Class 8A state championship game will hinge on star running back Justin Jackson.
The Northwestern recruit rushed for 2,602 yards and 35 touchdowns on 420 carries during the Panthers’ Class 8A runner-up campaign.
But the contributions of departed quarterback Brian Murphy shouldn’t be discounted. Murphy, who will wrestle at Michigan, averaged just 105 yards on 6-for-11 passing per game, but the Panthers can’t hand the ball off to Jackson every down.
That’s what makes the team’s 7-on-7 work at the recent Red Grange Classic at Wheaton Warrenville South so important. The team is working rising junior Brett Gasiorowski in as the starter at quarterback, and events like that give him much needed reps.
“Brett is a junior; big, big shoes to fill he has,” Glenbard North coach Ryan Wilkens said. “For as big as he is, he also is pretty athletic. The play-action pass will be big for us. But there will be a lot of handing off to Justin.”
Jackson realizes the importance of having at least the threat of a solid passing game, and he did the best he could from the receiver position in 7-on-7s to help Gasiorowski get acclimated to the varsity game.
“We don’t do much of it, but we do need it in certain situations, thirdand-long, stuff like that,” Jackson said. “He played well. Coming from the sophomore level, where they didn’t pass much, getting thrown in the fire here, he performed well. He obviously has a lot to get better at, but so did Murph last year. Murph, his junior year wasn’t as good as he was his senior year. He got a lot better.
“Sometimes people want to rush junior quarterbacks, but you really have to develop them. It’s hard. We’ll help him out.”
If the Panthers are able to put together a solid passing game, Wilkens could have more opportunities to showcase Jackson, one of the state’s top players, in spots other than the backfield.
“We’ll take him out of the backfield and put him in the slot, put him at corner, let him go out and play,” Wilkens said.
Jackson always has played both ways in certain situations for the Panthers. His 76-yard interception return for a touchdown opened the scoring in the Class 8A title game against Mt. Carmel in November. But he said he is spending more time in passing camp working at corner.
“It’s all about making plays,” Jackson said. “At the end of the game, in crunch time, are you making the plays?
“I want to work on corner a lot more because I feel like sometimes during the year I don’t practice defense as much. I just want to hone in on that and get better at that for my team. Anything I can do to help out.”