High school football: Jarren Jackson carrying the load for Marengo

As the carries pile up, so do the hits on Jarren Jackson’s body and the effort he puts forth on each rushing attempt with his legs pumping and cutting and twisting.

And what does the Marengo running back think about his extensive usage?

“To be honest, it was a lot harder carrying it last year than this year,” said Jackson, a senior. “After so many times carrying the ball, something starts clicking.”

Jackson carried 250 times for 1,451 yards last season, but that was through 13 games as the Indians advanced to the Class 4A playoffs semifinals and finished 12-1. This season, as the star holdover from that team, he is on pace for more rushing attempts in nine regular season games.

Harvard (1-3 overall, 0-2 Kishwaukee River Conference) gets its chance to try and slow down Jackson when it hosts the Indians (3-1, 1-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Dan Horne Field.

Jackson has logged 105 carries and 687 yards in the past three games and embraces the increased workload.

“The little runs each time are better than the long runs,” Jackson said. “It wears down the defense and sets them up to be tired later in the fourth quarter.”

Jackson carried 12 times for 59 yards in the Indians’ season-opening 29-28 win over Winnebago. Marengo coach Matt Lynch says Jackson’s carries since have been dictated by defenses more than any conscious effort, although giving him the ball is always a good choice.

“We pride ourselves on looking at each situation individually and what a team is going to present,” Lynch said. “We’re doing what the game dictates. Jarren’s a really good football player and he’s done a fantastic job. We’re just trying to do out very best to move the football and put points on the board.”

Lynch and Jackson credit the offensive line for the success as well. Center Dan Larson and guard Casey Gara are returning starters, while tackles Austin Farrell and Jarrett Burno, and guard Justin D’Ambrosia are new starters.

The Indians had a high-powered offense last season with quarterback Zach Knobloch and wide receivers Jarrell Jackson (Jarren’s brother) and Craiton Nice. While it seems defenses would know Jarren Jackson might get the ball a lot, they haven’t done much to slow him down.

“Blocking for Jarren is great,” Gara said. “I can trust his ability to read my block and take the right path. Linemen often find ourselves scrambling and finding someone to pick up, even though the play’s been going on for 15 seconds.”

Jackson carried 30-plus times for 200-plus yards in each of the past three games. He grabbed a slight lead in area rushing with 746 over Johnsburg’s Alex Peete, who has 729.

Jackson (5-foot-8 1/2, 175 pounds) is averaging 29.3 carries a game, an increase of 10 carries a game from last season. The Indians are not surprised by his production.

“We expect that from him, he’s always been this good,” Larson said. “We know if we do our job, he’s going to do what he does, which is always something special. If it’s a broken play, you always have in the back of your mind he’s going to break one, no matter what.”

Jackson wants to play college football next season, but said he will leave much of that up to the coaches and decide on a level and school after the season.

“Jarren’s a great young man,” Lynch said. “He’s a team player. He respects everybody on the team and everybody respects him. He’s one of the guys.”

Jackson in Action

A look at Marengo running back Jarren Jackson’s statistics from last year and through the first four games this season.

2015 (13 games) Rushing yards 1,451 Yards per game 111.6 Rushing attempts 250 Rush. attempts per game 19.3 Touchdowns 18

2016 (four games) Rush yards 746 Yards per game 186.5 Rushing attempts 17 Rush. attempts per game 29.3 Touchdowns 11