Falcons trapped

WINCHESTER — The Golden Falcons pulled to within five in the fourth quarter. But they couldn’t stop J.D. Mangas on the trap.
Mangas broke through the middle for his third touchdown run of 30 yards or longer with 3:51 remaining to extend Jay County’s lead back to double digits. And Zach Metcalf’s 43-yard run following an onside kick sealed a 37-20 victory as the Patriots spoiled Winchester’s homecoming.
“The trap was there for us tonight,” said JCHS coach Steve Boozier. “As a matter of fact, we’re pretty sure on the last touchdown (Mangas) got, we think the safety shoved him to try to go tackle the power. … He had two quick hitters in the first half, and then came back in the second half to get basically the winning touchdown.”
Mangas provided a quick answer after Winchester tied the game at 7-7 with 8:45 on the clock in the second quarter, breaking through the middle for a 33-yard touchdown run just 27 seconds later. The Patriots (3-4) scored that TD on a two-play drive as the Mangas TD followed a 32-yard run by senior Cade Price.
After Winchester booted the lone punt of the game following a three-and-out on its next possession, Jay County put together another two-play drive.
Price ran for 4 yards, and then Mangas busted through the middle on the next play and cruised 58 yards to the end zone with tight end Eric Hemmelgarn shoving aside any would-be tacklers.
The Golden Falcons closed to within 25-20 with 6:43 to play, but they still couldn’t stop Mangas. The junior scored on a 57-yard trap play, putting him over 200 yards for the evening.
“It was awesome,” said Mangas, who ran 19 times for 220 yards and added an 8-yard score to his three long TD runs. “I was breaking open, and my line and all of us were working together as a team. I was just out there having a great time.
“A lot of times it took me just seeing my hole and making cuts. Eric Hemmelgarn did a great job blocking for me and I’m proud of him.”
Jay County cleared the 400-yard rushing mark for the third time this season, picking up 415 yards on 42 carries.
Price followed Mangas with 128 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, and Metcalf ran 10 times for 66 yards and the final score.
“They just keep doing their job over and over,” said Boozier of the offensive linemen who paved the way. “You’ve got (Travis) Slack and (Mitch) Bennett at the tackles, (Hunter) Prescott and (Brentt) Lewis at the guards. (Spencer) Patterson went in there tonight and played a little bit of guard. You’ve got (Logan) Antrim at center. And then Eric Hemmelgarn and Tyler Back, they’re tight ends, but they’re also offensive linemen. So those kids just blocked their butt off tonight.”
Winchester (3-4) stayed within striking distance until the final minute thanks in large part to the passing and rushing of quarterback Drew Croyle, who completed seven passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns and also ran eight times for 85 yards. But turnovers, a fake punt and the onside kick hurt the home team.
The Golden Falcons had converted a third-and-9 on a 27-yard pass from Croyle to Ben Brumfield on their opening drive, but Brumfield fumbled the ball and Patterson was there on the recovery for Jay County. They then forced a fourth-and-6 situation, only to have Price convert on a fake punt.
Winchester stopped the Patriots again on the opening drive of the second half, but Croyle was intercepted three plays later to set up one of the four Mangas TD runs.
“We felt like coming out of halftime that we found some things that were going to work offensively. And we threw that interception, and that really put us in a pickle,” said Winchester coach Mike Jones. “We had stopped them, we got the ball back, we throw the interception. Even if we just punt there it’s not nearly as bad as giving them the ball on our side of the field and they turn it into points.”
Winchester’s Devin Grilliot ran 20 times for 65 yards, 50 of which came in the second half.
There was just one penalty called in the game — a false start by Jay County when it was trying to kneel down in the final minute of the game.
The win was a big one for the Patriots, who lost 20-17 to Muncie Southside and 19-14 to Connersville in their previous two games.
“We had to have this one. … after we lost those two games the last two weeks,” said Boozier, whose team will close the season with visits to Heritage and Guerin Catholic. “We should be sitting at 4-2 coming into tonight and we weren’t. We were 2-4. We needed this win and the kids went out and got the job done.”[[In-content Ad]]