West Greene running back Jackson puts speed, talent on display

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, October 9, 2018 | 3:51 PM

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Growing up with two older brothers, a younger brother and younger sister, West Greene running back Benjamin Jackson competes from the moment he gets out of bed in the morning.

There’s even an all-out race to their father’s white Toyota Tundra to claim “shotgun.”

While Jackson might be riding shotgun a lot these days in dad’s truck, he’s the player behind the steering wheel running over, through and past would-be tacklers and helping lead the West Greene football team to one of its best seasons in nearly three decades.

“Me and my brothers and sister will race to the truck to see who gets to the front seat first,” Jackson said. “Now my little brother can take me, and my older brothers still have some fight left in them. It’s always close.”

Every time Jackson takes a handoff, it’s almost like a mad dash to the Toyota. It’s been quite some time, but Jackson has the eyes of the WPIAL football world looking toward Greene County in the southeast corner of Pennsylvania.

The junior ranks second in the WPIAL in rushing with 1,429 yards and is tops in touchdowns with 24 through the first seven games. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Jackson trails Yough’s Dustin Shoaf (1,439) by just 10 yards with 45 less carries.

“He has line in front of him, and he has great field vision,” West Greene coach Rodney Huffman said.

Ah yes, the vision. Every running back can see but the good ones have great vision to see the holes and creases that don’t pop up on the radars of an average running back. That’s what separates good from great.

“He makes cuts that sometimes dazzles you,” Huffman said. “There’s people closing in on him, he’ll make a cut and make them look foolish. He can be powerful. He’s the whole deal.

“If you need a few yards, he’ll get it for you. If you need a 70-yard run, he’ll get it for you. He’s just the whole package.”

The “whole package” has been a 1,000-yard rusher since he took his first handoff freshman season, when he rushed for 1,199 yards. He followed that with 1,286 yards his sophomore season and helped pace the Pioneers to their first playoff appearance since 1992.

Jackson eclipsed the 3,000-yard career mark with a 336-yard, five-touchdown effort in the Pioneers’ 41-0 blowout win over Tri-County South Conference rival Chartiers-Houston. And with three games remaining, Jackson is on pace to surpass 2,000 yards for the season.

“Not every class has one of these running backs, and when you do get him it’s a great thing for the coach,” Huffman said.

Huffman and others in Greene County followed Jackson’s ascent through the ranks of youth and middle-school football. He was the show.

“My first year, I had my eyes on him,” Huffman said. “People knew about Ben coming out of Little League, junior high for sure. Back in junior high, I attended a lot of their games and the offense was Ben right, Ben left, and Ben up the middle. I’ve seen him break off a lot of runs. I love watching him.”

It was in middle school that Jackson realized that he a knack for running the football.

“In middle school, I was smoking kids left and right, and I was getting tracked down from behind,” said Jackson, who runs a 4.6 in the 40-yard dash.

Despite the 1,000-yard season his freshman year, the leap from middle school to varsity football is always humbling no matter how good a player one is. For the first time since racing to dad’s truck, Jackson was getting caught from behind.

“Going into my sophomore year, I worked on my speed, footwork and jump cuts,” Jackson said.

Jackson and his West Greene teammates will face a stern test Friday night when the Pioneers (5-2, 5-1 Class A Tri-County South) welcome No. 2-ranked Clairton (6-0, 4-0) to town for a nonconference matchup.

The game will no doubt be West Greene’s stiffest competition of the season, and Jackson and his teammates are ready for the challenge.

“That’s the plan,” Jackson said. “Make it big, get the name out there and have people starting to fear West Greene a little.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.