It was announced at the end of the 2007 season, following a disappointing 29-12 loss to the Lowellville Rockets, that head coach Mark Assion was stepping down as the mentor of the Blue Jays. "My dad passed away 13 months ago," Assion commented. "I started my career in North Carolina, our families are in North Carolina. I wanted to do what's best for the kids. I didn't want rumors hanging over these kids about what I was, or what I wasn’t going to do, and I wanted to be fair to me and my family," Assion would explain his decision. When asked if he was moving to North Carolina, Assion explained that there has been no definite decision made on that. But that it was best to make a decision as early as possible to allow a new coach time to get started with the lifting program.
In his three years at Milton, Assion compiled an 8-22 record. That may not sound overly impressive, however Assion had three competitive seasons despite low numbers and injuries. The Blue Jays were 2-8 in 2005, 5-5 in 2006, and 1-9 last year. When asked if the MVCA all-star game was the highlight of his coaching career at Jackson-Milton, Assion replied, "The MVCA all-star game was a thrill, but the one I remember best was the week 10 win in 2006 over McDonald in triple overtime." Assion would go on, "To win with just 16 kids, I was just stunned and thrilled. It was a great game. We didn’t knock McDonald out of the playoffs, but we kept them from winning a league title."
As far as last year's 1-9 team, "We constantly had to fill holes. Maybe that's my fault, not developing a deeper senior class, we only had three starters, and four seniors on the team," Assion remarked. "Our fourth senior was Bobby Miller-Wiley, our kicker. I'm not kidding, this kid could kick on Sunday's if someone gave him a chance. Anyone who can take just two steps and boom it 60-yards is talented," Assion would praise his specialist. He would go on to explain that his kicker had school, a full-time job, and played soccer besides handling the Jays kicking duties. "Unfortunately we didn't get as many chances to use his talents as we hoped," he remarked. "We only got blown out like twice, and even then our kids played hard right to the end of the game,” Assion concluded.
So what can the next head coach at Jackson-Milton expect? An experienced
football team with a lot of potential. "We have nine starters back, nine on offense, and eight on defense," Assion commented. Included in those starters are two freshmen that started on defense. "It's really up to this year's junior class, or next years seniors. If they work hard, they can be successful," he would conclude. The Jays will have eight senior players coming back next year including All-ITCL performer Jeff Balent.
The new Blue Jay coach may be named as early as the February Board of Education meeting, pending additional interviews. "Right now they are down to just a few candidates, and I think they all could make good coaches here," Assion remarked.
Assion remarked about how good the kids in the school system are at Jackson-Milton despite some distractions. Like most school systems in Ohio, Jackson-Milton struggles with school levies, along with the football program struggling. The Jays have not had a winning season since 1997. But he remarked how positive the kids are, and how they understand the difficulties of the taxpayers. Assion concluded by saying, "As a coach, I always tried to do what was best for the kids." His players would attest to that.
-ITCLFootball.net Article
-Photos and images courtesy of Jackson-Milton school site
