Crushed Berries

One of the last things the Patriots wanted to happen was to give Mario Perez a chance.

The Logansport kicker had booted three extra points that would have been good from nearly 40 yards, and he was seen making kicks from further than that during warmups.

Perez lined up for a 27-yard attempt and Patriot coach Tim Millspaugh called his final timeout before a false start backed the Berries up 5 more yards.

A 32-yarder from the left hash with six seconds left for the win? No sweat.

Not so fast.

The snap to holder Dusten Wilson was high, and the Logansport senior had to take off running. He was tackled by Ethan Theurer and a host of his teammates for a 10-yard loss to seal the Jay County High School football team’s 22-21 victory Friday in the Class 4A Sectional 20 opener at Harold E. Schutz Stadium.

Senior Noah Hummel ripped off his helmet and ran to the sideline where he was met by classmate Cole Stigleman, who earlier in the night became the school’s all-time leading rusher. Hummel and Stigleman jumped and screamed in jubilation by the painted numbers in front of their sideline.

For the first time since 2013, the Patriots (4-6) have won a sectional game.

“It was the greatest feeling ever,” said Theurer, who was the team’s leading tackler with seven stops. “Knowing that we get to play another week of football, the best feeling ever.”

But it wasn’t without a little bit of drama.

“That kid has a leg,” said Millspaugh, whose team advances to the sectional semifinal on Friday at the Wayne Generals, who crushed the Columbia City Eagles 62-20. “It really made me nervous. As soon as they crossed the 40 … I knew we were starting to get into that range. I’m still glad the ball didn’t get to the tee. That was in our best interest.”

One drive after recovering a fumble at its own 2-yard line, Jay County pounced on another loose ball as Logansport quarterback Elijah Crowe lost the ball late in the fourth quarter. Hummel, who had five tackles, made the recovery at the Patriot 23.

As the offense for Jay County stalled, it was forced to punt and Logansport (5-5) took over on the JCHS 41 with 39 seconds remaining.

Crowe’s first pass went incomplete, but then he found Wilson over the middle for a 26-yard gain. After a spike to stop the clock, Drake McLochlin caught a 6-yard pass on the left sideline but was tackled in bounds at the JCHS 9. Another spike made it fourth-and-4, and Perez trotted out for the potential game-winning kick.

Millspaugh called the timeout in an attempt to ice Perez, who also plays soccer for the Berries. He lined up again, but a false start pushed the ball back to the Patriot 14.

“We were just trying to seal the victory, man,” Theurer said of the plan on the field goal. “We were trying to block it so bad. We were so hyped. It was crazy.”

Little did they know the hype that would ensue a few moments later after getting the win, just the second postseason win for Jay County since the 2007 squad won the sectional title.

“It feels great,” Millspaugh said. “Sectional wins are always great.’

“Your goal, and every coach in every sport will tell you this, you want to play your best come tournament time. I really feel like we’ve been progressing these last few weeks, and I really think that we put our best foot forward tonight and I’m really proud of our football team.”

It was another stellar performance out of Stigleman, who needed just 40 yards to surpass 2014 graduate J.D. Mangas as the school’s leader in career rushing yards.

Stigleman scored all three Patriot touchdowns, and kicked things off with an 11-yard scamper on the game’s opening drive. The ensuing conversion run failed, and the Patriots were out front 6-0 after chewing nearly 10 minutes off the clock.

But the advantage was gone faster than the Jay County cheerleaders could do six pushups, as Oscar Grimaldo returned the subsequent kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown.

The next time the Patriots had the ball, Stigleman surpassed Mangas’ total of 3,066 yards with a 9-yard carry, his eighth of the game. He finished with 158 yards on a career-high 36 carries to bring his career total to 3,185.

“Our offensive line did a great job,” said Stigleman, who had a career-high 225 yards last week in a win over Heritage and has reached the century mark in each of his last four games. “It was tough. They were big and physical, but I feel like our line did a very good job against them and our running backs ran hard.”

Michael Schlechty complemented Stigleman with 78 yards on 19 carries.

Jay County took a 14-7 lead in the second quarter as Holton Hill scrambled and threw a 24-yard TD pass down the left sideline to Stigleman. On the play, Hill surpassed 3,000 career passing yards. He’s the first Patriot quarterback to reach that milestone since 2008 graduate Billy Wellman.

But Logansport — which ran its first offensive play of the game with 6:09 left in the first half — took the lead just 86 seconds into the third quarter as Crowe threw a 43-yard TD pass to Grimaldo.

Jay County got the ball with 11:52 remaining in the game at its own 35, and like it had for most of the game, methodically moved down the field with a steady diet of Stigleman and Schlechty. The former went around the right edge and dived over the goal line for a 7-yard score and then powered his way through the line of scrimmage for the eventual game-winning two-point conversion with 6:50 to play.

“I had to go through the hole and run as hard as I can,” he said of the conversion. “Line gave me a good hole to run through. Just barely got in.”