by Austin Bainbridge

It’s a rivalry week for Jeff football, matching up against a Floyd Central team that has had great success against them in the past, and Jeff is trying to turn the corner on tonight’s game.

“It’s a mental thing for the players, when a team just beats you down year after year you just expect it to keep happening, so I’m hoping we can get this done,” said head coach Joe Washington.

The coaches know this game starts with them, and they want to show the players a way to win.

“This game starts with me. If I’m fiery and excited about the game, I think the players are going to feed off my energy. So I hope me showing how much I care will make the players really want to dominate Floyd,” Washington said.

Even though Jeff hasn’t beat Floyd in 11 years, the players remain confident in their skills.

“I think they’re scared of coming here and losing. When you’re scared of doing something, you come up with excuses to get out of it,” said fullback Jaxx Long.

The Jeffersonville defense made several stands against Kokomo last week, along with a dramatically improved performance at Bedford-North Lawrence.

“Our linebacker play was really good against Kokomo. Malachi Monts had 13 tackles, and KT (senior Kurion Thompson) had nine and an interception. I think that’s what helped with the win,” said Washington

The defense is going to have to step up to stop Floyd’s potent rushing attack, which went for 425 yards last game.

“They played Silver. I mean, it’s not too hard to rush for 400 against Silver Creek. We put in a new defense, we’re going a five-man front this week to try to slow down their running game,” said Washington.

It’s Senior Night tonight, and that is just more motivation for the players.

“I want to play hard and win to give these seniors a good memory before they go off to college,” said Long.

The coaching staff sees where a win could take Jeff, and they want to make it there

“A win against Floyd would start a fire and start this program down a path we want to go,” said Washington