This fall one of Ashland’s most beloved and feared football teams will celebrate a golden anniversary.

Ashland’s 1975 JAWS team struck fear in opponents throughout the state with a defense that lived up to its nickname.

Elks Sports Day honoree Greg Jackson, who is best known as a community champion and the ramrod behind the rebuild of Putnam Stadium, was an outside linebacker on the famed defense that led to a 14-1 season.

Jackson was a two-sport star for the Tomcats, also serving as a captain and starting third baseman on consecutive regional championship teams.

Even after suffering a broken foot in the first game of the football season, a game where he fought through the pain in the first half and rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown against Johnson Central. His foot swelled up so much at halftime he could not stand. He came back four games later, returning to the outside linebacker position on defense but was used less on offense.

Jackson’s speed and strength made him a natural for outside linebacker in the 4-4 scheme.

Although his carries were limited because of the foot injury, Jackson still rushed for 350 yards and was second on the team in yards per carry at 8.1.

Jackson was replaced in the backfield by Jeff Slone, who went on to have a 1,000-yard rushing season on a team that also had a 1,700-yard rusher in Gary Thomas and a bulldozing fullback in Jay Shippey. The quarterback, Chuck Anderson, doubled as one of the toughest middle linebackers in the state.

Jackson was still used in the backfield and had some valuable runs during the Tomcats’ playoff stretch including a touchdown against Lafayette in a 21-6 victory. He put Ashland ahead 7-0 on a fourth down, four-yard scoring run in an eventual 13-7 victory over Paducah Tilghman in the Class AAAA State At-Large championship game in Paducah.

Thomas broke a 7-7 deadlock with a 74-yard scamper late in the fourth quarter that put Ashland in the Class AAAA Super Bowl against Jefferson County champion St. Xavier.

“There were a lot of what ifs in that Paducah game,” Jackson said. “As coach (Herb) Conley has said to me, ‘I remember that play because the first three times (assistant) coach (Bill Tom) Ross wanted to run it up the gut and we weren’t getting anything.’ And a great call, Chuck had the fake to Gary and the linebacker would at least be stymied for split second. We were strong to our right and I knew it was going left. I see the end zone. It’s clear halfway between the pitch and the end zone. I feel like something just trips my foot. I got the video about 15 years ago. I always thought, and never knew for sure, until I looked at the video. When I looked at it, the defensive end got sucked in to Chuck, which is why Chuck pitched it to me. That’s the option. The defensive end recovered, and he dove and did swipe the bottom of my foot.” But Jackson made it to the end zone for his third touchdown of the season and second in the postseason.

That was the first year that the Kentucky High School Athletic Association instituted the Super Bowl type setup for the state’s largest class. The State At-Large champion, which included the biggest schools in the state outside of Louisville, played the Jefferson County champion for the overall Class AAAA title. Both Ashland and St. Xavier have trophies that say state champion, but St. Xavier has another one with overall champion in 1975. The KHSAA lists them as the sole champion in 1975. They scrapped that setup after eight years.

The Tomcats missed some scoring opportunities in the first half and still played St. Xavier to a near deadlock. The Tigers led 7-0 at the half and their depth – St. Xavier had separate offensive and defensive units – was simply too much to overcome and Ashland fell 20-0 in Louisville. St. Xavier’s strong senior class had not lost since they were freshmen.

Whether state champion or not, the beloved JAWS team remains one of the favorite and best remembered teams in Tomcat history. Coach Conley, who was an assistant on Ashland’s 1967 Class AA state championship team, said this to reporters after the game in 1975. “You can say whatever you want to, but this has just been a great year for us. These kids have given their all. They have done everything we have asked them to do. I think they’re better than the state champions of 1967. We beat everybody in the state but Louisville, and we didn’t have to play Louisville in ’67.”

In baseball, the Tomcats were regional champions in Jackson’s junior and senior seasons. He was inducted into the CP-1 Hall of Fame in 2022.

A born leader who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1980, Jackson is also a community champion who has served on countless boards and is a leader at his church. Jackson also played on freshmen football and baseball teams at West Point. He served six years in the Army after graduating.

He went there with classmate and teammate, Chuck Anderson, a past Sports Day honoree, who went on to a career in the Army that saw him rise to become a Two-Star General. Anderson will introduce Jackson at the Sports Day banquet on June 14 at the Elks Lodge where tickets are on sale for $30. The event is open to the public, not just Elks members, which is a popular misconception. Mark Maynard, also a former Sports Day honoree, is the featured speaker.

Beyond playing, Jackson served as an assistant coach for Ashland Kittens softball for eight seasons, including six regional champions, and was president of the Tomcat Band Booster Club for one year and active for eight years when his daughters were in band. He also was a youth softball, baseball, football, and basketball coach when his three children were young.

All that while working 34 years in Human Resources with Ashland Oil and Marathon Petroleum Corporation and serving on a dozen community boards.

However, his claim to community fame may be the long hours and dedicated work he did as the chairman of the Putnam Stadium Restoration committee from the beginning in 2008 to the completion last fall.