West Greene depending on strong sophomore class
Rob Burchianti
Beau Jackson felt he got a bit spoiled his first year as head football coach at West Greene when he took over for Brian Hanson in 2023.
“I had a lot of seniors, a lot of experience and we had a pretty good season,” Jackson recalled.
The Pioneers finished second in the Tri-County South Conference behind California with a 6-1 record and were 8-3 overall, including a playoff loss.
West Greene was 4-6 overall and 4-3 in the TCS the following year, tying Carmichaels for third place, but missed the postseason on a tiebreaker.
In 2025, a youthful Pioneers team was 1-6 in the TCS and 1-9 overall.
“The next couple years after that first season we had to kind of adjust to having a younger team, especially last year,” Jackson said. “I think I’m better prepared for coaching younger guys now after going through that.”
His players know what to expect from him now, Jackson said.
“I think we’ve had a pretty good routine since I’ve been here,” Jackson said. “We try to be consistent.”
The Pioneers are even younger in 2026 with 14 sophomores and three freshmen among a roster of 24.
“We’re going to be pretty young across the board,” Jackson said.
A lot of the underclassmen gained valuable experience a year ago.
“Throughout last season we had seven of those sophomores who started at some point,” Jackson said. “A couple others also got a lot of playing time when they were freshmen.”
Joel Rizor was one of those freshmen. He stepped in under center last year and he returns at quarterback with a more versatile skill set.
“Joel has been working really hard in the offseason,” Jackson said. “His legs were the biggest threat he had last year. He’s done a lot of work on his arm since then. We’re excited to see him be more of a dual threat this year.
“I’m a run-first guy, so if that’s working we’re going to stick with it. But I’ll say this, he has a lot more confidence throwing the ball now and we have a lot more confidence in calling the passing game.”
The Pioneers will be counting on two sophomores at running back.
“We’re going to rotate in a few guys there but the two major ones will be Bret Scott and Kyan Berardi-Stockett,” Jackson said. “They also put in a lot of work in the offseason so we’re looking for good things from both of them.”
Rizor has a variety of options to look for when he wants to throw.
“We have a mix of wide receivers, young guys but good athletes.” Jackson said. “Gavin Roberts is going to be one. He’s another sophomore who’s going to be an outside threat. We’re going to move Kyan around a little bit where he’ll be running some routes too. We also have Caiden Cunningham and Brent Harris, both juniors, who we can throw to.”
Anchoring the line on both sides of the ball will be seniors Mason Ansell and Reece Tharp.
“Those guys have been doing a good job of keeping the flow going with the run game,” Jackson said. “We’ll be starting some sophomores and freshmen around those two.”
Sophomore Kyle Cunningham spearheads the defense.
“He’s a middle linebacker who we’re going to be leaning on to lead the way,” Jackson said. “He’s certainly our vocal leader.”
Jackson has three freshmen who he thinks can help the team at some point in 2026.
“Like any other freshmen class, they have to develop physically,” Jackson said. “We only have three but we’re excited about each one of them. They’re working very hard. Corbin Rice is a lineman, big kid. We have Colt Frye who is going to play tight end and inside linebacker. Then we have Jayden Burns who’s going to be a receiver/corner.”
Jackson likes his team despite its lack of upperclassmen.
“This is a good group of kids,” Jackson said. “There are a few other guys who could make an impact. Mark Wassil is a sophomore who’s worked his tail off as a lineman for us. And Joel has a twin brother, Jacob Rizor, who didn’t play last year. He’s been working hard, is a bit small but a good athlete. We’re still trying to see where he fits on the team.”
Jackson was hoping to have a bigger roster and explained the shortcomings of being just a few players down from normal.
“We finished the last three years with about 27 or 28,” Jackson said. “Four fewer guys might not seem like much but it makes a big difference with practices. When we get into the season, 24 might go down to like 20 with injuries and we won’t be able to do full scrimmages. We’ll have to focus on half-line stuff.”
The Tri-County South again has eight teams but there has been one change with Frazier stepping back in and Bentworth going out.
“Frazier’s been in there before so they’re a familiar foe,” Jackson said. “I know they were very good last year. To me, California is the reigning champs and it’s theirs until someone takes it from them.”
Jackson is confident his team can compete for a playoff spot.
“We’re very young,” he said, “but if we can execute well enough I think we have the opportunity to compete with anybody in our section.”