RESTORING TRADITION

In third season under Kerbow & staff, Meridian Yellowjackets aim for first winning season since 2016 & first postseason appearance since 2017 out of District 10-2A, DII

Looking for their first playoff appearance since 2017, Meridian has shown marked improvement over the last two seasons and hope to pick up right where they left off and continue working toward restoring the school’s proud football tradition.

With 12 returning lettermen, including seven offensive and seven defensive starters, the Jackets will have a wealth of experience returning for the upcoming 2024 season. But certainly, the University Interscholastic League did the Jackets no favors with the biennial realignment last February.

“The strength of our team is we are returning most of our starters from a year ago,” Meridian athletic director and football head coach Jim Kerbow said. “But we are not very deep at any position. We are in year three of the program. Our players know the expectations. We are not having to change much offensively and defensively, so we should be firing on all cylinders come Aug. 30.”

As a part of the eight-team District 10-2A, Division II following the UIL realignment, the Jackets line up against the fourth-ranked Mart Panthers, sixth-ranked Bremond Tigers, 11th-ranked Chilton Pirates, Goldthwaite Eagles, Wortham Bulldogs, Frost Polar Bears and Hubbard Jaguars.

“Our kids have worked extremely hard and have improved tremendously over the past two years,” Kerbow said. “Therefore, our kids will be up for the challenge. The reality of it is that we have the opportunity to win more games than we have won in the past 15 years. But we cannot do it without the support of our community.”

With an eight-team district allowing for only three non-district games, the Jackets will prepare for the challenge by taking on Bruceville-Eddy, Cross Roads and Bosqueville before opening district against the Hubbard Jaguars on Homecoming Night Sept. 27 in Jacket Stadium.

“The challenge with a larger district is the margin of error is smaller,” Kerbow said. “We can’t afford to have a bad night. We really had a 50/50 shot at going east or west. Obviously, we hoped to go west. However, the UIL gets to decide that and not us. As far as the number of teams in the district, it never crossed our minds that we would be in an eight-team district.”

Despite some personnel decisions to be made after losing some key players from last season to graduation, Kerbow feels his system has been established for the upcoming season. With that said, it’s more about repetition to smooth out the rough spots before the season opener at home against Bruceville-Eddy Aug. 30.

Looking to mix the pass with the run, Jacket senior quarterback Matty Jones will have his favorite target back in senior wide receiver Ian Gomez, along with junior Dustin Padgett, as well as sophomores Hayden Cummings and Josh Nunez.

Jones will be protected by an experienced offensive line featuring senior Bradley Kihnel, senior Jesus Martinez along with juniors Cohen Lumpkins and Bradley Perry returning as starters. And Meridian will man the running game with a host of options, including junior Garrett Pope, sophomores Ricky Shank, Isaac Lira and Jackson Boatwright, as well as freshmen Ashton Allen and Brandon Allen.

Defensively, the Jackets should be strong in the trenches with Kihnel, Martinez, Lumpkins and Perry providing experience in the trenches, while Pope and Nunez return to the linebacking corps, while Gomez, Jones, Padgett, Cummings, Shanks and sophomore Wayln Sheppard with man the defensive backfield.

Although Meridian has not qualified for the postseason since 2017, the Jackets have a rich Texas high school football tradition dating back to 1916 – four seasons before the University Interscholastic League even existed. While posting a respectable all-time 540-418-36 win-loss-tie record for a .561 winning percentage, the Jackets have qualified for the postseason 26 times and won 16 district titles.

As attendance numbers have dropped, the Meridian football program has fallen on hard times, posting a dismal 8-51 win-loss record over the last six seasons with a 4-28 district mark without a winning record since 2016. But with Kerbow and his coaching staff leading the way and offering stability, the Jackets hope to carry the momentum built over the last two seasons into the 2024 campaign.

“Right now, the biggest challenge we face is overcoming the naysayers that continue to tell our kids they can’t compete,” Kerbow said. “So, I would like to challenge everyone to be positive with our athletes and encourage them to go out and fight, no matter the opponent.

“So, I am challenging everyone that supports Meridian athletics to build up our kids and encourage them, push them to participate – it will only benefit them.”