Jay blanked in finale

Four times in the first five drives the Patriots had Guerin Catholic in fourth-down situations. It didn’t phase the Golden Eagles.
Visiting Guerin Catholic went for it on fourth down each time, scoring two touchdowns and converting a third time on the way to handing the Jay County High School football team a 47-0 loss in the regular-season finale.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge,” said JCHS coach Steve Boozier. “They’re athletic. Right off the bat we had them fourth and 9, and they completed that pass for a touchdown and got us on our heels.”
The fourth-and-9 situation at the 34-yard line came on the opening drive of the game. Junior quarterback Tino Smith dropped back and found Mitchell Paige open in the right side of the end zone for a touchdown.
The Patriots (5-4) stopped Guerin Catholic on a fourth-and-6 play on its next possession, but that didn’t discourage the Golden Eagles. They scored a second touchdown in the opening quarter, and then converted on a fourth-and-6 play in the opening minutes of the second for a 27-yard touchdown from Smith to Danny Murray.
The visitors converted another fourth down, this time fourth-and-2, midway through their next drive and eventually scored on a 16-yard run by Drew Dehnke for a 27-0 halftime lead.
“I don’t like punting,” said Guerin Catholic coach Andrew Kremer, whose team improved to 6-3. “We’ve got some guys who can catch the ball, and Tino can obviously put the ball on the money. … A couple of times it worked and a couple of times it didn’t.”
Jay County struggled on the offensive side of the ball in the first half, managing just four total yards. It picked up a first down on a penalty on the opening drive of the game, but didn’t get another one until the second possession of the second half.
“We knew that if we could stop the run it might be difficult for them to throw the ball on us,” said Kremer, whose team did not allow a completion. “We wanted to attack them in between the tackles and really just read our keys and play sound fundamental football, and we did that. … I was really impressed with what our defense did.”
The Patriots finished with 53 yards of offense as Lucas Wiemer led the way with 12 carries for 50 yards. They finished 0-for-8 passing and averaged just 1.2 yards per play.
“We’ve got to play faster,” said Boozier. “Every time we play a Fort Wayne school or an Indianapolis school, the game is played at a faster speed. We’ve got to be prepared to play that speed. …
“Offensively we’ve got to find our identity with the kids we have.”
The team has lost No. 1 receiver Brock McFarland (shoulder) and No. 2 rusher Blake Crouch (neck) for the season.
Smith added a third touchdown pass to Sammy Adams in the third quarter and tossed for 204 yards. He completed passes to six different players, including two to Mitchell Paige for 52 yards.
Although the Golden Eagles are predominantly a passing team, they established the ground game early. They ran the ball on more than half of their first-quarter plays, and Drew Dehnke picked up 98 of his game-high 112 rushing yards before the intermission.
Dehnke had touchdown runs of 16 and 3 yards, and Kyle Coltrain added a 9-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.
“Especially coming off a week when we played Chatard where it’s awfully tough to run the ball against that caliber of team, one of our goals tonight was to come out and put the ball in Drew Dehnke’s hands and Shelby Evans,” said Kremer. “We’ve got to get those guys rolling as we hit the playoffs.”
Despite the loss, Jay County finished its best regular season since going 6-3 in 2007. It won just two games apiece in 2009 and ’10.
The Patriots will open tournament play at home Friday against Marion as they look for their first sectional victory since defeating Muncie Southside in the 2007 championship game.[[In-content Ad]]