Trounced on the turf

Any team with as many new faces in the starting lineup as the Patriots is going to go through some growing pains. They hope to have gotten a lot of them out of the way Friday night.

One such pain led to a blocked punt, which was recovered for a touchdown. Another came on a penalty that negated a touchdown. And a third resulted in a touchback rather than a downed punt at the 1-yard line.

It was a tough season opener for the Jay County High School football team as the 56-6 loss to the Class 4A No. 7 Delta Eagles would indicate.

But, it is also a game the Patriots hope they can learn from to make them a better team down the road.

"We knew there were going to be growing pains," said JCHS coach Shane Hill. "We knew some guys were going to have to grow up in a hurry. ... (Playing Delta in week one) was kind of a rough situation to put guys in who haven't seen varsity action and varsity speed."

Delta needed just three offensive plays to traverse its new artificial turf field. After their opening drive was set up by Teddy Dawson's 35-yard kickoff return, Zach Overfield posted the Eagles' first touchdown of the year on a 37-yard counter run.

Following a 3-and-out by Jay County, the combination of a low snap and a missed block allowed Jacob Smedley to block a punt at the goal line. Landon Lambert was there to cover the ball in the end zone to put the Patriots in a 14-0 hole in less than three minutes.

"It was just a missed assignment. ... He was just unblocked," said Hill. "When you're free coming off the line of scrimmage, it's pretty easy to block a punt. We got that fixed."

The remainder of the opening half belong to Delta quarterback Ozzie Mann, who tossed four touchdown passes. Three of those came in the final 4:13 of the of the second quarter.

"Game one, going out and getting a win, I thought we did a lot of things right obviously," said Delta coach Grant Zgunda. "But I thought we were too sloppy too. There's a lot to work on."

Jay County had an opportunity to put points on the board in the opening quarter as it moved the ball down the field with the running game.

But an offensive holding penalty negated a Michael Daniels touchdown run and the drive stalled out.

The only Patriot score of the game also came thanks to the running game as Daniels and quarterback Zach Cash worked the ball up the field. Daniels carried the ball four times for 31 yards, and Cash had a 14-yard quarterback keeper on the opening drive of the second half.

Then they turned the ball over to Ben Vance, who scampered 15 yards for a TD less than four minutes after the intermission.

Hill said he was happy with the way his team reacted after facing a 42-0 deficit at the half.

"Our challenge was to see how they would come out and respond," said Hill. "That was something definitely to build on.

"Mike D is good. I like Mike Daniels. I know what he did last year. Zach Cash ... has some top-end speed. ...

"What we lack is the ability to make people defend sideline to sideline right now. So we've just got to get better with our quick passing game."

Delta added two more scores for the final margin as both teams put in their reserves for the majority of the second half.

Mann's four-TD day came as he threw for 215- yards on 12-of-19 passing in his first varsity start. Dawson caught four passes for 103 yards, and Logan Young had four catches for 71 yards and a pair of TDs.

Overfield led the rushing attack with 104 yards on just three carries, and Dawson ran 12 times for 68 yards.

"Obviously Logan is a great player, going to IU," said Zgunda. "Teddy Dawson at running back is a sprinter and a tough kick. Overfield, the wing back, had a great night.

"I'm happy with the way things went. Overall I thought we did a pretty good job."

Daniels finished with 60 yards on 17 carries for the Patriots, who host Blackford Friday. Vance ran twice for 36 yards, and Cade Price ripped off a 41-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Cash completed three passes in his quarterbacking debut.

Hill said he thinks the difficult opener will be a stepping stone to better things to come.

"We'll get better," said Hill. "I truly believe that this group wants to work hard. They want to improve. By the end of the year I think we're going to see a really good team.

"By the time we get to weeks seven, eight and nine we're going to see definitely a different team than what we saw here in week one."[[In-content Ad]]