JCHS runs past Jets

The Patriots played well enough to earn a comfortable win.
They know they’ll need to play much better in the coming weeks.
Behind 170-yard rushing efforts from J.D. Mangas and Cade Price, the Jay County High School football team cruised to a 33-13 victory Saturday over the visiting Anderson Preparatory Academy Jets.
APA is in just its second year of football after playing four varsity games a year ago. The Patriots will host Muncie Southside (2-1) and Connersville (3-1) in its next two games.
“We have to play better than that if we’re going to compete against the Southsides and the Connersvilles and people like that,” said JCHS coach Steve Boozier, while noting that his team made a lot of lineup changes and tried to work on some different aspects of its offense. “We did some things tonight that will help prepare us down the road. …
“You’re never going to be unhappy with a win, but we do have to play more consistently to take the next step. …
“It’s a lot easier dealing with constructive criticism after a victory than it is after a loss, and we’re going to have a lot of constructive criticism this week.”
The outcome of the game that was postponed from Friday because of thunderstorms was never in much doubt thanks to a Patriot rushing effort that produced nearly 400 yards.
Mangas capped Jay County’s first drive of the game with a 18-yard touchdown run up the middle, and sophomore quarterback Nick Clemens hit Eric Hemmelgarn with a 26-yard TD pass late in the opening period. And after the Jets closed to within 13-7, Price got in the game.
The senior, who had been held out for much of the first quarter because Boozier wanted to ease him back into action as he recovers from an illness, took the ball 47 yards down the left sideline on his first offensive play. He got past Max Sechler at the 15-yard line and cruised the rest of the way for his first TD of the evening.
“Hats off to (Price),” said APA coach Joe Kwisz, whose team is now 1-2. “That kid can run the ball. We had three, four guys at the point of attack stop him at the line of scrimmage and he just found a way to keep going.”
Price hauled in a 26-yard TD pass from Clemens late in the opening half, and a 43-yard scoring run up the middle from Mangas extended the lead to 33-7 early in the fourth quarter.
Mangas, making his first start after gaining 108 yards off the bench against Franklin County last week, led the way with 173 yards on 17 carries. Price added 170 on 13 attempts.
“He does a nice job,” said Boozier of Mangas, who stepped into the fullback role while Zach Metcalf moved to halfback. “He’s got great feet. … They were doing everything they could to take the trap away and he was able to jump over people, stop on a dime and cut, and then he’s got that explosive ability to turn what a lot of times would be a 15- or 20-yard gain into the touchdown.”
The moves in the backfield allowed Darren Bogenschutz to focus on defense as the Patriots started just two players going both ways compared to the normal six. Sophomore Nick Clemens took over the starting quarterback role as senior Blake Crouch turned his full attention to the defensive backfield.
While his team took a 20-point loss and gave up more than 500 yards of total offense, Kwisz said he was happy with the effort.
The Jets continued to battle all the way, with Tyler Smith-Johnson scoring on a 1-yard run as the final buzzer sounded.
“I can’t be more proud of our guys tonight,” said Kwisz, whose squad picked up the first win in team history in its previous game against Monroe Central. “To fight to the very last second, scoring on the very last play, that’s fun. We had a good ball game.”

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