SWANSON | Keystoner Ex-Sharon star will be sentenced Thursday

It's a big week for former Sharon High football standout Marlin Jackson -- perhaps the biggest in his 20-year-old life.
Thursday, Jackson, a junior cornerback for the University of Michigan football team, will be sentenced after being accused of striking a man in the face with a bottle during a house party earlier this summer in Ann Arbor, Mich.
In mid-August, Jackson pleaded guilty to misdemeanor aggravated assault in a plea agreement. He said he never hit the man with a bottle and that he was sorry the whole situation took place.
Prosecutors dropped a charge of felonious assault against Jackson. These charges carry a sentence of up to four years. Aggravated assault is a misdemeanor and can carry a sentence of up to one year in jail and a fine of $1,000.
Played for Wildman
Jackson played at Sharon for Jim Wildman, who attended the Jackson hearing in August. Jackson had been taken into the home of Wildman and his wife about three years ago.
Jackson attained all-state honors at Sharon before going on to a remarkable career at the Michigan under Lloyd Carr.
As a Wolverine, Jackson was one of the best to be found. This season he was picked by sportswriters and broadcasters as the preseason defensive player of the year in the Big Ten. He possesses an uncanny ability to read offenses and has a nose for the football.
In his two seasons with the Wolverines he collected 98 tackles and six interceptions and last season was billed as a second-team All-America and an All-Big Ten selection. This year, he was billed as a preseason pick for the Jim Thorpe Award, a prize that is presented to the nation's top defensive back.
Bowers' future
What lies ahead career-wise for the NCAA's all-time leading rusher, R.J. Bowers?
His life in the NFL has been one that would be classified as a real roller-coaster ride. Most recently he was placed on the Cleveland Browns' reserve/non football injury list. Evidently he will not be reactivated.
The former West Middlesex High athlete had been with several teams in the NFL, including the Carolina Panthers and the Pittsburgh Steelers before signing up with the Browns.
His career also spanned five seasons with the Houston Astros before returning to the Shenango Valley and playing with the Grove City Wolverines.
It was at Grove City where Bowers stood out in football. Overall, he established eight NCAA all division and 11 Division III records. He amassed 7,353 yards rushing, 562 points, 92 TDs, and 35 100-yard games.
He wound up his college career with 9,253 all-purpose yards, second-highest ever posted.
What happens now? That's entirely up to Bowers. There are more teams in the NFL than the Browns and the Steelers, however.
Ice cream guy
When I first heard the name St. Pierre, I thought it was a commercial advertising some kind of French ice cream. No, it was Brian St. Pierre, one of the Steelers' four quarterbacks, and he's not bad.
He came in against the Dallas Cowboys and helped engineer the 15-14 victory. He completed all six of his passes for 57 yards and led the Steelers to a touchdown and the game-winning two-point conversion.
St. Pierre, a product of Boston College, has been playing behind Tommy Maddox, Charlie Batch and Antwaan Randle-El.