Jackson Polar Bears football coach Jay Rohr wants more
MASSILLON, Ohio — It’s not that Jackson High football coach Jay Rohr doesn’t like pumpkin pie; he just likes it better with whip cream on top! That’s how the 2002 Jackson High graduate and field boss of the Polar Bears feels about his 2023 squad. “It used to be that the top four teams in each region made the playoffs, then it was eight, and now it’s 16,” Rohr said. “Yes, we want to win the Federal League, but we no longer just want to win a playoff game. We want more. We want it all!”
Getting it all is never easy, and Rohr isn’t planning on taking any shortcuts. Jackson scrimmaged state champion and perennial power Akron Hoban before the regular season. In addition to playing in the Federal League–arguably the most competitive league in Ohio high school sports–the Bears entertained Division I Mentor to open the season, followed by Mayfield and then a date at Stow-Munroe Falls. If they want to know how good they are, Jackson is going to find out quickly!
The Bears trot out 85 players from grades 10 through 12 and 135 players from grades 9 through 12. They have 16 returning lettermen back from a team that finished 6-6 overall last season. Jackson defeated Mayfield in a first-round playoff game before losing to Lakewood St. Edward. But Rohr insists on building and maintaining a culture that not only wins football games and plays in the postseason but one that prepares young men for life. In fact, Rohr’s cultural message should hang from the rafters of every school… ‘One athlete of character improves a team. One team of character changes a school. One school of character impacts a community.’ Words to live by, indeed!
The Bears will line up behind team captains: offensive guard, Steven Bettilyon; senior defensive tackle, Zach Ferguson; senior running back and safety, Joe Lattarulo; and senior wideout and defensive back, Kyle Benson. Other key contributors to the Bears’ fortunes this fall include sophomore Lucas Ecrement, Noah Colando, Jamal Phillips, and Anthony Fuline. On defense, Rohr is counting on a collection of juniors named Jordan Warmath, Mitchell Braucher, Foster Stanley, and Robbie Everhardt.
“It’s a blessing to come back,” said the Bears’ second-year coach. “We’re stressing what it means to be a Polar Bear. It’s an honor,” he said. “We have won the All Sports Trophy here 12 years in a row, and there is no tougher league to do that than the Federal League. There are kids here who are multi-sport athletes, and one of the keys to our success overall in the district is sharing those athletes.”
Inside the building, Rohr works as a digital academy director for online classes and is also a qualified intervention specialist.
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