Pick ends comeback hopes

A week earlier, the Patriots got to celebrate a come-from-behind win.



They were two yards away from doing it again.



Deven Newcomb came up with yet another big play instead.



Newcomb capped off his two-touchdown day by intercepting a Parker Grimes pass in the end zone with 45 seconds remaining Friday as the Jay County High School football team lost its home opener 27-22 to the Huntington North Vikings.



“I told the kid before the game that he is going to be our playmaker and to trust in everything,” said HNSH coach Rick Burnau, whose team snapped a 13-game losing streak and is 1-1 on the season. “The kid came out and did exactly what I told him he was going to do.”



Jay County coach Tim Millspaugh, while upset with the defeat, pointed toward the positives in the outcome.



“Those obviously sting like no other,” he said. “They hurt really, really bad. The reality is we’re going to have to win close games so we have to get used to those situations. We’re going to be in those situations and against some times we hope to be in those situations.



“It is definitely disappointing.”



Aidan Hosler booted a 42-yard field goal with 2:19 remaining in the fourth quarter to extend the Huntington North advantage to 27-22. After the ensuing kickoff, Jay County (1-1) took over on its own 31-yard line with 2:13 to play and no timeouts remaining.



Grimes connected with Ryan Schlechty down the left side of the field for a 50-yard gain, putting the Patriots on the 19-yard line of the Vikings. Grimes again found his classmate, this time over the middle, for a 17-yard gain.



For the second time in as many weeks, the Patriots were faced with a short distance to gain for the go-ahead score.



With the clock winding down, Grimes dropped back and threw to Noah Harris on a quick out. The pass was slightly underthrown, and Newcomb hauled it in for the turnover as he hit the ground.



“We have to earn it,” Burnau said of what he told his kids before the Patriots’ final drive. After the interception, quarterback Brett Kaylor took a knee three times to run out the clock. “They’ve been in this position before. They were in this position last week.



“They know how to come back.”



Kaylor finished 15-of-19 for 245 yards and an interception. Newcomb caught nine Kaylor passes for 180 yards, including TD tosses of 63 and 37 yards in the second quarter.



The first was a fade down the left sideline with Newcomb lined up in the slot that extended the Viking advantage to 16-7. His second score was on a catch out of the backfield in the flat and he ran down the sideline untouched. That made it 22-7 Huntington North.



“Offensively, moving the ball in the first half was freaking phenomenal,” said Burnau, whose team was actually out-gained 399-337.



Despite the game-ending interception, Grimes was more lethal than Kaylor in just his third start at quarterback.



The senior completed 10 of his 15 passes for a career-high 272 passing yards.



The Grimes-to-Schlechty combination occurred six times, covered 162 yards and resulted in two touchdowns.

Schlechty, who put the Patriots on the board on the game’s opening drive with a 14-yard scamper, scored with 2.6 seconds left before half on a 10-yard pass. He went in motion to the left to mimic an outside sweep, Grimes faked the give and booted to his right, meanwhile Schlechty was left wide open and Jay County cut the deficit to 22-14.

Jay County took over at its own 20-yard line following a missed field goal, and on the ensuing play Grimes went deep to find Schlechty wide open again, this time for an 80-yard TD. Gabe Faulkner caught a Grimes pass for the 2-point conversion to tie the score at 22-all.

“For us to be successful and to win games that we need to win and to have a chance to compete in the conference and the sectional, Ryan has got to be a dude,” Millspaugh said.

Schlechty’s 30 yards on five carries gave him 192 all purpose yards.

Late in the third quarter, Landon Grimes picked off a Kaylor pass at the 3-yard line, and Huntington North took the lead for good on the next play as the Viking defense brought down Michael Schlechty in the end zone for a safety.

“The thing I really take away from this game, there is no issue with effort,” said Millspaugh, whose team opens Allen County Athletic Conference play at home on Friday against Southern Wells. “Our kids give great effort. They play really hard.”