Down and delayed

For the second time in three weeks, the Patriots will be playing football under the Saturday night lights. And this time, they’ll be starting in a 13-point hole.
Jay County gave up two touchdowns to the visiting Connersville Spartans in the opening 13 minutes of play Friday night before lightning halted the game with 11:20 on the clock in the second quarter.
A half-hour later school officials decided to postpone the game. It will resume at 7 p.m. tonight.
The Patriots’ game scheduled for Sept. 7 against Anderson Prep was also pushed back a day because of thunderstorms.
“We touched the ball (three) times and they touched the ball (22) times,” said JCHS coach Steve Boozier. “We haven’t had a chance to play offense … and defensively we just have to make a few adjustments.  ... The main thing is we kind of have a second chance tomorrow.”
The Patriots (2-3) only ran three offensive plays, moving the ball three yards on the first two before fumbling the ball away on the third. That turnover came after Connersville had already moved the ball down the field on its opening drive.
The Spartans’ first drive was in trouble early as a couple of penalties pushed them back and created a second-and-26 situation. But they gained 28 yards on the next two plays to convert.
JCHS had the Spartans in third-and-long two more times on the drive, but each time Blake Evans came through. The Connersville senior ran 19 yards for a first down to overcome a third-and-12, and then scored his team’s first touchdown around the right end on third-and-8 from the 21-yard line.
“Improper angles, improper fundamentals,” said Boozier of his team’s inability to stop the Spartans. “That’s something that was being addressed during the delay, something we were going to go out and work on, something that we can work on tomorrow when we bring the players in and start getting ready for the game.”
After the fumble the Spartans came through again, putting together a nine-play, 54-yard drive for their second score.
Evans had the key play on the drive with a 24-yard run, and scored the touchdown with a 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal.
“He’s running hard,” said Connersville coach Adams Kelly of Evans. “Hopefully we’ll keep that up tomorrow.
“I felt like they came out and they played hard and the scoreboard shows it,” he added for hits team’s effort overall. “So I’m proud of the way they showed up.”
While the Spartans moved the ball to the tune of 129 total yards on 22 plays, Jay County managed just three yards on two carries. Cade Price ran once for two yards, and Zach Metcalf carried the ball one time for one yard.
The fumble came on the center-quarterback exchange.
Evans racked up 104 yards on 11 carries in just over a quarter of play to lead Connersville.
“He’s a heck of a runner,” said Boozer. “They’ve got two or three — the Day kid, the Evans kid, Bolos. Those are all great backs. And then if we don’t tackle well fundamentally, tomorrow night’s going to be a long night.”[[In-content Ad]]