Homecoming shutout

Clark Snyder’s sprint down the right sideline sealed the game.
And Lucas Wiemer’s churning touchdown run to the left pylon in the final minute was the exclamation point.
Jay County bounced back from a disastrous loss a week earlier to turn in its first shutout in more than four years, defeating the visiting Winchester Golden Falcons 26-0 on homecoming.
“It’s great,” said JCHS coach and 1985 graduate Steve Boozier. “Homecoming wins are the greatest of the year because you get to go back to all the festivities. … All-in-all it’s a good night. There’s nothing worse than losing on homecoming, nothing better than winning on homecoming.”
The victory, which improved the Patriots to 5-2, came a week after they fell 14-0 to a Connersville squad that had dropped 19 straight.
“I was proud of the way our kids bounced back,” Boozier added. “Last week was a devastating loss. … That was a hard one to come back from, and now we can put that behind us.”
Winchester (0-7) was still within striking distance early in the fourth quarter, but it went three-and-out on three consecutive drives before Snyder put the game away. On the first play after a Winchester punt, Snyder scampered around the right side with Wiemer leading the way and dashed 55 yards to the end zone to extend the home team’s lead to 19-0.
Trying to avoid a long return, the Patriots followed up the Snyder touchdown with a squib kick. The Golden Falcons failed cover the ball in time, and Jay County pounced on it to reclaim possession.
JCHS slowly moved down the field, burning time off the clock, before handing the ball to Wiemer on fourth-and-6 with less than a minute to go. The junior used a stiff arm to get around the left corner and eventually dragged several would-be tacklers with him as he reached the left pylon for a 22-yard touchdown.
“We were so happy for Snyder because obviously he dropped that pass in front of God and everybody,” said Boozier, referencing a play earlier in the quarter. “We were so happy that he came back.
“And we were really proud of Eric Beougher making that (32-yard) catch on the sideline … And then Wiemer, that was just great individual effort on Lucas’ part.”
Beougher’s reception came on a fourth-and-3 play on the first drive of the second half and set up a Zach Metcalf touchdown run two plays later. That score gave Jay County a 12-0 advantage after holding just a six-point lead at the intermission.
The only points of the opening half came on the Patriots’ first possession. They drove 11 plays, with Cade Price sweeping 14 yards around the left side on a fourth-and-4 play.
“It’s huge, because if we don’t get that early score and we’re hanging around 0-0 at halftime, then people start wondering,” said Boozier, whose team was locked in a scoreless tie at halftime a week earlier. “It just takes one bad break in this game to get on your heels. I think that was huge scoring on the first series of the game.”
While Jay County’s offense put the game away late, the defense stood strong against Winchester all night.
With Price (five tackles), Matt Taylor (four tackles) and Preston Keen (four tackles) leading the way, the Patriots limited winless Winchester to just 76 yards of total offense. The Golden Falcons averaged less than two yards per carry as JCHS turned in its first shutout since beating Franklin County 19-0 in the third game of the 2007 season.
The Patriots shut out Muncie Southside in the second half Sept. 16 and blanked Connersville for the first three Sept. 23 before blanking Winchester.
“Defensively, they keep playing consistently,” said Boozier. “In that last 10 quarters they’ve only given up scores in one.
“The shutout was the goal.”
Price had 80 yards on 13 carries to lead a JCHS offense that was without No. 2 rusher Blake Crouch, who suffered a neck injury a week earlier. Crouch said he is not expected to play in the Patriots’ next game, which is at home Friday against Heritage.
Snyder followed Price with 66 yards on three carries, and Wiemer added 57 yards on 13 attempts.
Quarterback Drew Croyle was responsible for most of Winchester’s offense, gaining 40 of its 42 rushing yards on 11 carries. He also completed seven passes for 34 yards.
Despite the defeat, Winchester coach Ryan Vermilion said he was much happier with the way his team played against the Patriots. The Golden Falcons were coming off back-to-back shutouts — 41-0 to Lincoln on Sept. 16 and 59-0 to Union City on Sept. 23.
“We played a lot harder,” said Vermilion, whose team has now lost eight in a row. “We played a lot more focused than we have in recent weeks.
“The kids’ effort and their faith in one another was just so much better this week.”[[In-content Ad]]