After transferring in from T.F. North, Alex Jackson understandably had some doubts about how his only season at Bremen would go.
Now, the senior linebacker/fullback is the leading tackler on a team that is taking the Braves to new heights.
“It’s been fun,” Jackson said. “Transferring over here, I thought it was going to be bigger than it was. During the process, I was scared. I didn’t want to go anywhere where they already had guys there who all knew each other.
“But I met Keshawn (Lewis-Hunt) and Dion (Debrue) the very first day. Everybody accepted me. They were all cool. It all came together. There weren’t really any hiccups.”
Bremen (9-1) earned its first playoff win since 2005, rolling over downstate Washington 35-7 Friday night in a Class 6A first-round game.
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The Braves will take on Kenwood (7-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday in the second round at Lane Stadium.
Jackson, an accomplished wrestler who finished sixth in Class 2A at 195 pounds last season, made an immediate impression when he met his new teammates at Bremen.
“When Alex came in, he changed the temperature in our weight room during our offseason conditioning,” Bremen coach Dan Stell said. “He raised that level and made guys want to compete and work harder.
“He’s such a quiet, happy, humble kid. He does the work in the classroom. He has a 3.5 GPA. Teachers love him. Then he’s also a wrecking ball out on the field.”
Jackson has 101 tackles, three sacks and two fumble recoveries.
He did not start playing football until eighth grade, but having wrestled since he was 6 years old made things easier.
“Wrestling makes tackling easy because I’m already used to being in a lower stance with wrestling,” Jackson said. “Blocking is easier because I’m used to using my hands.
“Conditioning is easy because in wrestling you’re doing stuff like running around in bags to drop weight.”
Fellow linebacker Lewis-Hunt, who has also gone over 1,000 yards as a running back, knows he can rely on Jackson to help him shut down the opposition.
“I know if I miss, he’ll come up and clean it up,” Lewis-Hunt said. “I really trust him.”
Lewis-Hunt said Friday’s win was especially meaningful after a 42-7 loss to St. Ignatius in the Braves’ 2021 playoff opener.
“It meant a lot,” Lewis-Hunt said. “The feeling from last year did not sit too well. I played that game through my mind all day before our game last week.”
Jackson was not around for that loss, but he had plenty of motivation.
“I watched the film from last year’s game and I knew that wasn’t fun for the guys, so I couldn’t let that happen again,” he said. “Plus, I don’t want to wrestle yet.”
Thundering on: Andrew snapped a long drought of its own, winning a playoff game for the first time since 2011 with a 28-18 Class 8A first-round victory on the road at Huntley.
The Thunderbolts (7-3), who will host Warren (9-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday in a second-round game, prevailed by executing their option rushing attack to perfection.
“I don’t think we always get enough credit for everything the kids put in to the system we run,” Andrew coach Adam Lewandowski said. “We ran for over 300 yards. We had the ball for 29 minutes and we scored 28 points.
“We just need to keep doing what we’re doing well and adding to that.”
Mike Barberi led the way for Andrew, running for 157 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries.
(Hill) topping it off: Joliet Catholic’s 43-6 Class 4A first-round win over Phillips marked the eighth time this season the Hilltoppers have gone over 40 points.
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Joliet Catholic (8-2) will likely need another big offensive showing at 1 p.m. Saturday in its rematch at rival Providence (6-4). The Hilltoppers beat the Celtics on Sept. 16 in a wild 49-41 game.
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.