Ashland Source will select one student athlete to be recognized as the Park National Bank Athlete of the Month during the 2023-24 school year. Nominations for Athlete of the Month are accepted from Athletic Directors and Coaches, but are ultimately chosen by Ashland Source and are based on the student’s exceptional athletic performance, effective teamwork and achievement in their communities. Park National Bank is proud to support this initiative and is giving the athletic department of each school $1,000 in honor of each athlete chosen.
JEROMESVILLE — Playing quarterback at the varsity level in Ohio takes a certain amount of grit that not many teenage athletes possess.
Playing the position at Hillsdale — a program looking to extend its Ashland-area-record run of playoff berths to eight straight seasons this fall — adds to the level of difficulty.
For Jack Fickes, a senior who has taken on the role for the first time with the Falcons, big expectations on the field, in the classroom and within the community are all just part of the equation.
It’s the reason he has been selected as Ashland County’s Park National Bank Athlete of the Month for September.
“Playing quarterback, obviously, you’ve got to be more of a leader and it comes in different circumstances,” Fickes said. “I think I do a pretty nice job taking over the offense and being a leader for those guys and a guy they can count on.”
Also a baseball and basketball player for the Falcons, Fickes is in the top of his class academically. Hillsdale athletic director Jodi Long said his guidance as a first-year quarterback has been easy to see this season in the camaraderie the team has displayed.
She’s also watched his participation beyond the field from afar.
“He has been involved in the Athletic Leadership Council the last couple of years and has been a role model to our younger athletes,” Long said. “Jack can be seen around the campus cheering on other sports teams and has volunteered his time to read to the second graders through the 2nd & 7 Foundation.”
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LOUDONVILLE — It almost seems as if Tess Shultz is frantically trying to make up for lost time. The Loudonville junior didn’t run her first cross country race until her freshman year, and in the short time since has already broken three individual LHS running records. In August, she won her first two meets of…
When looking for a replacement at quarterback for graduated All-Ohioan Jake Hoverstock, Hillsdale football head coach Trevor Cline said it wasn’t hard to find the right piece to the puzzle. He said Fickes had played the position each year while coming up through the Falcons youth program and could have played the role last season if needed.
At that point, though, the coach said Fickes plugged in nicely as the team’s best wide receiver and cover cornerback.
Now, he’s led the charge during the Falcons’ 5-2 start to this season, completing 60-of-90 passes for 803 yards and 11 touchdowns. Fickes also is second on the team in scoring with 36 points on his six rushing touchdowns, and he put himself in the school record book when he linked up with receiver Hayden McFadden for the longest touchdown pass in program history, a 98-yarder against Norwayne.
“He’s involved with a lot. As a coach, I want to see our players playing two or three sports,” Cline said. “At a small school, you need your best athletes doing that and Jack is one of the better athletes in our school.
“He comes from a very good family and a family that does a lot for our community, so he’s been able to carry that on throughout his school career.”
The Fickes family owns both Fickes Furniture and Fickes Funeral Home in Jeromesville, and Jack’s parents both were talented athletes themselves. He said his mom, Tiffany, played volleyball at Louisville in Stark County, while his dad, Mark, was a three-sport athlete at Hillsdale and also was the team’s quarterback as a senior in the mid-1990s.
“Growing up, my dad helped me out a lot,” Jack said. “He just teaches me to stay calm, trust my abilities and just go out there and be the best leader I can be.”
“I pride myself in being a Hillsdale Falcon,” he added. “It means a lot to me to have those little kids look up to me and obviously, being the quarterback of the team, most people are looking at me to be the right guy, and I just want to do that.”
While Hillsdale is probably out of the mix for a Wayne County Athletic League title — the winner likely will be decided when conference unbeatens Norwayne and Dalton square off in Week 9 — both Fickes and Cline feel the team has put itself in position to host a playoff game and potentially make a postseason run.
As with all great leaders, for Fickes, it’s about running down some lofty goals.
“Hopefully we can get to that regional championship — that’s a big goal of ours,” he said. “The school record is 11 wins (and) I think that’s a good possibility, but each day in practice we’ve got to come and bring the energy and keep being great teammates like we have all year.”
