Many soccer teams are aided by having a prolific scorer on the roster, and the Nansemond-Suffolk Academy boys’ team has exactly that in junior Tanner Jackson.

Jackson scored four goals across two Saints victories during the week of Sept. 13, helping him claim the title of Duke Automotive-Suffolk News-Herald Player of the Week.

In a 2-0 road win over Peninsula Catholic High School on Sept. 15, he scored both of NSA’s goals and then contributed to half his team’s offensive output in its 4-0 win on Sept. 18 against visiting Williamsburg Christian Academy.

Those games extended the Saints’ win streak to five games at the time, giving them a 5-1 record.

“I was excited to help the team out and just contribute to wins, and just knowing that because of what I did, it helped the team with the record, it felt really good,” Jackson said.

Nansemond-Suffolk coach Patrick Whelan said he could not be happier with the results of Jackson’s play.

“Tanner has put a lot of hard work into the beginning of the season in particular, and you can see it pay off,” he said. “Hard work’s rewarding.”

The Saints are now 5-2 after seven games played, and Jackson has racked up 11 goals and two assists.

But has he met his own expectations this season?

“No, not even close, not even close,” he said, adding that he wants to average three goals a game.

It is an ambitious objective, but Jackson has proven himself a big threat to opposing defenses, and Whelan noted this is in part because of his drive.

“Tanner’s a gamer,” the coach said. “As soon as the whistle blows, there’s that extra gear that he can get to that sets him apart from a lot of other athletes, and that’s just a special intangible quality that certain athletes have. Tanner’s got that, whether it’s in lacrosse or soccer.”

It was actually his participation in lacrosse that helped introduce Jackson to soccer.

“I just wanted to keep in shape for lacrosse, and soccer was one of the sports I hadn’t tried, and I gave it a try and turned out to do pretty good,” he said.

He recalled his first exposure to soccer came when he was 7 or 8 years old, playing forward for a team with the Suffolk Youth Athletic Association.

Since then, his only experience has come on the NSA varsity squad, for which he has played since his freshman year.

Asked to name his favorite between lacrosse and soccer, Jackson chose soccer, because of the feeling and significance that accompanies a goal scored in a traditionally low-scoring sport.

“Lacrosse, you score a lot of goals, and soccer, if you score a goal, it’s the game,” he said. “So bigger plays have bigger impacts.”