Runnin’ in the rain

MONROEVILLE — Jay County jumped early on its first play from scrimmage.



It lost the football on the next.



Six plays later, on fourth-and-goal from the 4, the defense kept Heritage out of the end zone.



Jay County scored on its next three drives, reached the end zone on three of its five second-half possessions and racked up nearly 500 yards of rushing in a 42-20 thumping of the Heritage Patriots on a cold, rainy Friday night in the regular season finale for both teams.



“That is certainly not how you want to start a game,” said JCHS coach Tim Millspaugh, whose team improves to 4-5 (3-3 Allen County Athletic Conference) on the year and opens sectional Friday night at home against Leo.



“Right out of the gate we fumble the football and give it to them,” he added. “I was really, really proud of our defense because that's a big momentum shift.”



They kept the Patriot Trophy, in just its second year, in Jay County.



The second play of the ensuing drive was a sign of things to come, as Trey Castillo rushed around the left edge for a 56-yard gain. Five plays later, Ryan Schlechty trotted into the end zone for a 1-yard TD, the first of his four scores.



“Coach gave us the scouting report and we knew we'd be able to get the outside on them,” said Schlechty, who finished with a career-high 195 yards on just nine carries, an average of 21.7 yards per rush. “We just had great reach blocks and outside perimeter blocking. There was space all day. Me, Trey and everyone outside just ran right through it.”



After Walter Knapke found Travis Gardner for a 14-yard touchdown pass to put Heritage (2-7, 1-5 ACAC) on the board, Schlechty scampered 46 yards to put Jay County out front, 14-6, with 18.7 left in the opening quarter.



Knapke and Connor Ray connected for a 9-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.



Jay County needed just five plays to score on its next second-quarter drive as Castillo went around the left edge for a 5-yard TD. He set up his own score with a 61-yard run three plays earlier. Castillo finished with 132 yards, a new career-high, on seven carries (18.9 YPC), and Jay County went into half leading 22-14.



Schlechty, twin brother Michael and the visiting Patriots weren't done reaching the end zone.



Past the midway point of the third quarter, Ryan Schlechty appeared to be bottled up near the line of scrimmage, but he found an opening near midfield and ran 59 yards for his third score with 5:33 left in the frame.



Then, with 6:08 to play in the game, he went 74 yards for his fourth score.



“We tried to pound them up front,” Millspaugh said. “Our kids up front felt like they could do it. When you've got Ryan and Michael and Trey running it, we're going to take our chances and I think a lot of times we're going to be OK.”



Not to be outdone by his brother, Michael Schlechty rumbled 91 yards for a TD run to make it 42-14 Jay County with 4:32 left in the game. He finished with a career-high 122 yards on just three carries as Jay County never threw the ball and totaled 492 rushing yards.



Heritage, which opens sectional at Bishop Luers, finished with 368 yards of total offense, all but 47 of which came on the ground. Hunter Bradtmueller did most of the work on the ground, rushing 22 times for 218 yards and a touchdown, a 28-yard run in the fourth quarter.



“I'm just proud of everybody,” said Ryan Schlechty, who was second on the team with 10 total tackles, including two stops in the backfield. “Every once in a while we slipped up but we finished strong and played four quarters.”



Bailey Cox led Jay County with 14 tackles, including one tackle for loss.