Author: BraxtonTroutman

PREVIEW: Boys Soccer

story by Braxton Troutman

Coming off a 2-1 heartbreaking loss in double overtime against Floyd Central in last year’s Sectional championship, the boys soccer team is looking to redeem themselves this season.

After the loss of six seniors to graduation, the 2017-18 squad is looking to move forward with a bright, young group of players. Top scorers of team include junior Jacob Clemons, Senior Ben Walter,and junior Leonel Esparza.

“I feel like we’re better than we were last year,” said senior Khaleb Khan. “Not saying we were bad last year, we’re just better this year. Things are looking good from here on. I think we’ll be successful, (win) titles.”

With victories against Atherton (KY) and North Harrison, in addition to an impressive 7-0 win against Christian Academy of Indiana, the season kicked off as a promising one for the Red Devils. Early losses, however, against defending state champs Evansville Memorial, and conference foe Seymour, have changed the team’s current morale. A “tie” game against conference foes Floyd Central ended with a power outage at the 26’ of the first half.

The team sits at 5-2-2 at time of press. With a tough schedule this year, they will have to face conference champions Seymour and will look to beat out Floyd Central for their Sectional crown.

by BraxtonTroutman

Undaunted Underclassman

Story by Carlos Molina

With high school basketball starting back into play, Jeffersonville fans will be looking forward to watching old names, such as returning juniors Bailey Falkenstein and Gerrin Moore, with the leadership of senior Michael Minton.

But few know much of the young, talented freshmen players this year’s team will carry.

Jacob Jones, a freshman point guard, will be one of the two freshmen expected to get playing time on Varsity. Tre’ Coleman, a power/small forward, is also expected to see minutes.

As for Jones, the 5-9 guard has been playing basketball ever since he started grade school at Maple Elementary. During the offseason, he joins his AAU basketball teams, the ‘Ville and the Eric Gordon All-Stars, which has helped the guard out with his ball skills.

“I’ve been playing basketball since pre-school, and I play AAU all year, and school basketball. So I have a lot of experience,” Jones said.

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Jones looking for an open teammate in the home opener against the 7th ranked Southport Cardinals       Photo By Braxton Troutman

As a freshman, the expectations for Jones are set high; not only by his coach, but as well as his teammates. Junior Gerrin Moore, who was the last freshman to start in a JHS varsity game in 2014, sees talent in the 15-year-old.

“He’s young but a lot is expected from him,” Moore said, “He’s going to do well setting up the offense and I think he’ll be able to add some points to the board.”

Jones did exactly that in the home opener, recording 13 points in a season-opening win against No. 7 Southport on Nov. 23.

“I am just expected to help my team win games,” Jones said. “Contributing however I can, whether it’s scoring, rebounding or playing defense.”

With the upcoming season, head coach Joe Luce expects Jones to contribute to his new system by starting him and giving him more playing time in games. His confidence in what Jones can bring to the table has given him a more relaxed player on the court.

“The biggest thing with Jacob is to just relax and play his game,” head coach Joe Luce said. “He’s had the chance to experience a lot of different basketball games as far as AAU, junior high and travel ball. It’s a lot different playing at eight o’clock on the Varsity level. And with him, we want him to relax and play his game.”

Jones’ unique and vast skill set has been what has made him stand out the most of all the other freshman. In the Red Devils scrimmage against Charlestown on Nov. 15, Jones showed what kind of talent he can bring to this year’s squad, tallying no turnovers and leading the team with 16 points.

“He brings a lot of energy. He’s very quick with the ball, gets it up and down the floor, finds open men and he’s very unselfish,” Luce said. “The one thing he did in our scrimmage against Charlestown is shoot the ball very well. He’s a good decision-maker that plays very hard and brings lots of energy to this team.”    

Jones, and the rest of the Red Devils, will be back in action at home on Friday, Dec. 9 in a HHC conference matchup against Seymour. JV tip off to begin at 6 p.m., followed by Varsity at 7:30 p.m.

by BraxtonTroutman

Make America Great Again

Story by Jay Williams

His History:

Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946 in Queens, New York. He attended college at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained a degree in economics. He worked for his father’s real estate and construction firm, and in 1971, he was given the opportunity to run the firm, which he renamed “The Trump Organization.” He now stands as President and Chairman of the organization, building office towers, golf courses, and casinos worldwide.

In June of 2015, Donald Trump declared his candidacy for President. (In 1988, Oprah Winfrey asked Trump if he would ever consider running for president during her talk show. Trump said, “If it ever got so bad, I would never want to rule it out.”)

He quickly rose up the ranks amongst his fellow candidates, and became the frontrunner of the Republican Party. He was officially named as the Republican nominee on July 21, 2016.

Trump is a candidate who has avoided running on the premise of political correctness. Clint Eastwood told Esquire, regarding Trump, “Everyone’s walking on eggshells.” Later, the actor said, “We see people accusing people of being racist and all kinds of stuff. When I grew up, those things weren’t called racist.”

His Ideas:

Trump has sustained criticism during his campaign, taking such hits as being called a racist, sexist, and Islam-aphobe. However, with a campaign with little to no focus on political correctness, do these hits truly cause Trump to restructure his rhetoric?

In fact, they never have.

Trump was dubbed “a racist” after he stated that the United States should build a wall on the Mexico border, as well as install a temporary ban on all Muslim immigrants. However, I would argue both actions have little-to-no racial bearing.

Building a wall is meant to slow illegal immigration, not prevent Mexicans from legally immigrating to the United States. Additionally, the temporary ban on Muslims was proposed in light of the Orlando night club disaster, a mass shooting where 49 people were killed and more than 50 wounded by a man of Muslim descent.

The ban is meant to halt Muslim immigration, which would attempt to prevent radical Islamic terrorists from slipping through the cracks. Furthermore, the temporary ban would be put in place to allow time to concoct a more sound vetting system.

Trump is a very solid candidate in many aspects, regardless of the numerous personal attacks he has sustained. Trump speaks to millions after millions of Americans who are sick and tired of poor leadership and weak policies regarding terrorism, immigration, and trade deals.

He vows to defeat ISIS, which is a policy well regarded by the vast majority of the US. Trump has stated that his opponent, Hillary Clinton, as well as the “weak leadership” in Washington, have drafted and negotiated some of the worst trade deals ever. Trump promises he will re-negotiate trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and NAFTA.

Final Word:

It is hard for millions of Americans, as well as myself, to believe that Crooked H has better and more effective policies than Trump. The Republican nominee has laid out numerous, comprehensive plans to improve trade, as well as reduce illegal immigration and eradicate radical Islamic terror from the face of the Earth. Hillary Clinton has given sorry excuses for policies, and has used her awful political history to point out that Trump has no political history. Hillary Clinton, in 30 years, has done nothing. She would continue to do absolutely nothing in the next four years.

by BraxtonTroutman

Replacing a legend

 Story by Kelsey Luce

The numbers are staggering: 33 Sectional titles, seven Regional, three semi-state championships, and two final four appearances.

The Red Devil tennis teams have had great success over the past 30 years coached by Mark Reilly. However this past 2015-16 season was the last year with Reilly at the helm after he decided to step down, ending his JHS coaching career.

Since then, Jeff High has hired a new tennis coach for this upcoming season, Curt Roehm.

Roehm has been coaching since he was in college at Indiana University Southeast. He started out coaching tennis at River Valley Middle School, before deciding to take a job as the assistant girls tennis coach at Jeff High towards the end of his college career.

Later, after leaving that position, Roehm took a job at as the girls tennis coach at South Oldham High School, before making his way back to Jeff High to become assistant coach for Reilly with the boys program.

The movement, and ultimate return to JHS, put him in the daily presence of one of the most decorated tennis coaches in the state.

“Working beside Coach Reilly the past few years was a privilege,” Roehm said. “He’s such a student of the game. He picks up on the smallest thing and can build an entire game plan around it.”

Because Roehm has spent so much time at Jeff High in the past, many current players recognize, and have been taught by, Roehm.

“He is a really great coach,” junior Trey Bottorff said. “He knows how to motivate and teach the game. He has some of the same great qualities that Coach Reilly has. I expect us to surprise a lot of teams doubting us and have a great season.”

The team already has big plans, along with a lot of respect, for their new coach this season. Roehm also knows, and understands, the legacy that came before him, and is focused on putting realistic goals on a team that went to the final four last season.

“I think it’s very important to set real and obtainable goals. We are focusing on things we can control,” Roehm said. “You can’t control when your opponent is going to have a near-perfect day. You can’t control when you go through a slump or a bad game. You can control walking off the court, knowing you gave 100-percent in practice and in the match,” Roehm said.

These goals are in place with a hope to follow up last year’s success, as well as preparing the boys to be the best they can for any opponents coming forward.

“The team already has respect for him, and now that he’s the head coach, he will bring a new and good element to the team this season,” junior Gerrin Moore said.

by BraxtonTroutman