Southeast Missouri State head coach Tom Matukewicz said in a preseason conversation that he aimed to give any local athlete with the skill to play college football an opportunity to come to Houck Field and make the hometown team.

Many of those local football players join SEMO as a preferred walk-on with hopes of making an impact like Jackson alum and senior linebacker Bryce "Mr. SEMO" Norman.

"It's a big part of the program," Matukewicz said. "When I got here, I promised myself that if there was a local kid that had enough talent to play here, I'd offer them an opportunity. If I was the father of a son that had enough talent to play here, I'd want SEMO to give him that opportunity."

From Norman to Logan Bruns to Zane Coon and Adrian Fox, there has been a mini pipeline from Jackson High School to SEMO since the Indians won their first state championship in 2020. The latest Indian on their radar is senior defensive back Gavin Alspaugh, who received a PWO offer from the Redhawks on July 17.

Like most local talent who extended such an invitation, there will likely be other offers for Alspaugh from various levels of college football. What stands out the most, however, is that SEMO's offer came before his first snaps as a defensive player.

Alspaugh was primarily a receiver prior to this season but made the move to defense to have more of an impact on the field and increase his profile for recruitment. He spent most of the spring and summer in combines and football camps showcasing his athletic potential. He posted a 40 time of 4.69 seconds at the Elite Football Combine on March 9 in St. Louis and later participated in the Lindenwood football camp in June.

So far it has paid off, as Alspaugh has recorded 27 tackles and an interception through the first three games of the 2024 season. Only Tyson Ford has more tackles (32) among Jackson's defenders and only 10 other players in the SEMO Conference are ahead of Alspaugh in that category.

"He's a really good athlete," Second-year Jackson head coach Ryan Nesbit said. "He played for us a year ago on offense but has taken to defense really well. He's a good natural athlete so he's been good in coverage but how quickly he's shown the ability and willingness to tackle. He's done a nice job there, so I'm pleased with him and he's done a nice job solidifying our back end."

Alspaugh's senior presence has been vital to have on Jackson's young defense who had to find their way against some high-level competition.

I'm just excited about the young guys on defense," Nesbit said. "On any given snap, we have six sophomores."

Between two road losses against Cardinal Ritter (44-7) and Edwardsville (41-7) and a neutral site win over Cahokia (49-26), the 1-2 Indians have seen the best both Missouri and Illinois have to offer before playing a game at "The Pit".

Last week's game against Edwardsville was supposed to take place in Jackson but was moved to the Tigers' home field after the school was subject to the recent wave of anonymous threats that have plagued schools nationwide.

Jackson will finally get its home opener when the Indians welcome SEMO Conference rival Farmington on Friday, Sept. 20.

"Big time excited," Nesbit said. "To play the schedule that we had, all three on the road, we're excited to get in front of our home crowd and we're excited for another opportunity to grow and get better."

The Indians have defeated the Knights for 13 years running and if they're going to turn their season around in time for the conference slate, they'll need to extend that streak on Friday.

"It's never about the opponent, and that's not a cliche," Nesbit said. "It's true for us. It's just our process and working to improve. We've got a lot of things, a lot of areas that we haven't played very clean yet. So we're just trying to put together a quality game and just take care of our own issues and they certainly present a challenge. Tough, and physical, it's always difficult playing an option offense, and we know our kids are taking anything lightly."