Running wild

After being pushed back for negative rushing yards in the opener, the Patriot offensive lineman were issued a challenge.
They needed to a better job of controlling the line of scrimmage.
They improved in a week-two win over Blackford, and then broke open holes that allowed Ryan Schlechty, Cole Stigleman and Jacob Geesaman to run wild Friday night.
Each of the three Jay County High School running backs surpassed the 100-yard mark, with Schlechty finding the end zone three times in a 40-12 victory over the visiting Southern Wells Raiders.
It was a key game for the Patriots, who could have had a winning regular season a year ago if not for blowing a double-digit halftime lead in Poneto.
“It said, ‘Revenge game,’” said JCHS coach Tim Millspaugh of his scouting report this week. “Because we were up 12 points at halftime. And things were going really well …
“And then we turned the ball over a lot and they did not. They took care of it and they turned our turnovers into points and beat us.
“We talked about that all week. This is a really, really big game for us. Our kids knew it, and I thought they did a really nice job of executing to give us a chance to win the ball game.”
Jay County (2-1, 1-0 Allen County Athletic Conference) got on the board first midway through the opening quarter, but it wasn’t until late in the second that it took control.
The Patriots started their scoring blitz after Southern Wells shanked a punt that rolled backward beyond the line of scrimmage before Ivan Hemmelgan picked it up and returned it to the JCHS 46-yard line. Stigleman busted a 38-yard run on the first play of the ensuing drive, and Geesaman was in the end zone two plays later.
Another Raider punt led to the play of the game — a reverse pass. Quarterback Holton Hill took the snap and handed off to Stigleman, who ran left before flipping the ball to Parker Grimes. The sophomore back-up quarterback had lined up at receiver, and instead of continuing the reverse run he turned his attention downfield. Bryan Stancliffe was left all alone behind the defense, and Grimes hit him for a 46-yard gain to the 5-yard line. Two plays later, Geesaman scored again for a 20-0 lead.
Southern Wells (1-2, 0-1 ACAC) was unable run out the remaining 1:37 of the half, giving the ball back to JCHS on a fumble with 51 seconds to go. The home team needed just two plays, as Schlechty ran 37 yards for the first of his three touchdowns.
Schlechty added two more TDs — 2 and 1 yards — to go along with a 42-yard run in the second half as he led the way with 163 yards on 12 carries. Stigleman had six carries of 10 yards or more as he scored twice and totaled 143 yards and 15 attempts, and Geesaman finished with 11 rushes for 102 yards.
“One of the things that we’ve struggled a little bit with is maintaining and controlling the line of scrimmage, and we’ve challenged our offensive line a lot the last couple weeks and I was very, very pleased with the way they played,” said Millspaugh. “Some of those holes were pretty large. I think I could have run through them, and that’s saying something.”
Southern Wells got its only big play of the game on a 62-yard scoring run by Briar Beeks on the opening drive of the second half when he broke a tackle in the backfield and then outran the Patriot secondary. Beeks finished with 126 yards on 18 carries and the Raiders gained 280 yards on the ground in all, but were hurt by losing four fumbles.
The visitors also committed seven penalties for 49 yards.
“The biggest thing is the stuff that we can control — putting the ball on the ground, offsides, all that stuff,” said Southern Wells coach Steve Yencer. “We’ve got to clear up all that stuff before we even worry about anything else.
“That’s the biggest concern with the young team that we have. We just have to execute better and control the things that we can.”
Jay County’s three-headed rushing attack led it to 472 total yards while Ethan Theurer racked up 16 tackles to pace a defense that has allowed a combined 20 points in the last two games.
The Patriots will travel Friday to Adams Central to take on the undefeated Flying Jets, who are considered a favorite for the ACAC title.