Jay Co. holds on

It was just enough.
The Patriots’ first win of the season didn’t go exactly as they would have planned it.
But the defense came up with a couple of key stops in the fourth quarter to make the first-half scoring stand up as the Jay County High School football team held on to beat visiting Blackford 14-13.
“It feels great,” said JCHS coach Steve Boozier, who coached at Blackford for eight seasons. “It’s an ugly win, but you’d rather learn lessons from ugly wins than the alternative.
“Obviously the second half was a little more exciting than we wanted to make it. … The good thing is we overcame that.”
The Patriots (1-1) built a 14-0 lead in the first half, but Blackford fought back and scored its second touchdown of the second half on a 15-yard run by Jerremy Jarvis. With 9:11 left in the game, Bruins coach Steve Rinker decided to try for the two-point conversion and the lead.
Walker Strait fumbled the pitch from quarterback Trace Oswalt on the play, then recovered the ball before being stopped 2 yards short of the goal line by the JCHS defense.
Blackford (0-2) tried to get the ball back on an onside kick, but Jay County’s Kane Bray came up with the recovery. The visitors still got the ball back with 5:16 to play, but their drive stalled on a failed fourth-and-13 play in the final minute and the Patriots were able to run out the clock.
“I would do it again,” said Rinker of the two-point try. “I believe in our kids. I believe in our offense. We were moving the ball very, very well. I believe if we had a good toss we would have walked in the end zone and been up 15-14. …
“We didn’t drive over here to lose. And we weren’t going for a tie. So we were going for it, and I’d do it again.”
Both Jay County touchdowns came in the second quarter, the first after the home team forced Blackford to punt from deep in their own territory. The Patriots took control at their own 44-yard line and drove 36 yards to the 22.
On third-and-12 Tyler Back dropped back and launched a fade to the right sideline. Brock McFarland leapt in front of Bruin defender Matt Ellis, came down with the ball and fell across the goal line for the first score of the game.
Blackford responded with a drive of their own, but McFarland halted it with a leaping interception in the end zone. He brought the ball back out to the 22-yard line and the ensuing drive ended in a 3-yard TD run by Cade Price.
“That was a huge momentum changer for us in the first half,” said Boozier of the interception. “And that was a nice drive and we were able to go down and get that score. That ends up being the difference of the game.
“He was key. Brock’s a key to the defense. And then he made a heck of a catch on offense too.”
Jay County gained 149 of its 252 yards in the opening half, most of it coming on the ground. Cade Price led the rushing effort with 21 carries for 115 yards, and Lucas Wiemer added eight carries for 48 yards.
The offensive line of Eric Hemmlegarn, Travis Slack, Kane Bray, Jacob Stipp, Matt Taylor, Brentt Lewis and Evan James paved the way for 230 total rushing yards.
“I was overjoyed  with our offensive line in the first half,” said Boozier. “As rough as I was on the offensive line last week, I’ve got to compliment those kids. … They did re-establish that line of scrimmage in the first half.”
The Bruins got back in the game after a fumbled punt gave them the ball at the JCHS 42-yard line early in the third quarter. After a 28-yard run by Oswalt, Evan Vangordon punched the ball in to complete a two-play drive.
Blackford stopped the Patriots on a fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line on the ensuing drive and then put the pressure on the on in the final period. But the Jay County defense, led by seven tackles apiece from Ritchie Keen and Price, was able to hold off the comeback try.
More than two-thirds of the Bruins’ total offense, led by 14 carries for 89 yards from Chris McGahey, came in the second half.
“Part of it is we’ve got a lot of young, inexperienced kids,” said Rinker. “We’ve got three returning starters total, offense and defense put together. We’ve got a lot of guys still feeling their way. … It’s taken them a while to start to figure things out. It’s taken us a scrimmage and a game-and-a-half.”[[In-content Ad]]