October 20, 2018 at 4:56 a.m.
Sectional swing
Patriots fall to Leo in sectional opener, 35-21
Sectional swing
The Patriots were on the verge of heading into halftime in a good spot.
They had just marched 72 yards for a touchdown, trimming a 14-point deficit to one possession.
In a matter of 15 seconds, the Lions had the game swing back in their favor.
Then they put the game out of reach on the first possession of the second half.
Jay County High School’s football team had its season end Friday as it never recovered from a first half deficit in a 35-21 loss to the Leo Lions in the Class 4A Sectional 20 quarterfinal.
“The end of the first half obviously was a killer,” said JCHS coach Tim Millspaugh, whose team ends the year 4-6. “That was very demoralizing.”
Leo (7-3) advances to the sectional semifinal on Friday at No. 8 Bishop Dwenger, which defeated Logansport 42-14 in its opening game.
A 6-yard touchdown run from Parker Grimes with 37.9 seconds left to play before half made it 21-13, and Michael Schlechty’s ensuing kickoff went through the end zone for a touchback.
Leo’s Peyton Wall took the handoff from quarterback AJ Restivo and went off the right side of the line.
They had just marched 72 yards for a touchdown, trimming a 14-point deficit to one possession.
In a matter of 15 seconds, the Lions had the game swing back in their favor.
Then they put the game out of reach on the first possession of the second half.
Jay County High School’s football team had its season end Friday as it never recovered from a first half deficit in a 35-21 loss to the Leo Lions in the Class 4A Sectional 20 quarterfinal.
“The end of the first half obviously was a killer,” said JCHS coach Tim Millspaugh, whose team ends the year 4-6. “That was very demoralizing.”
Leo (7-3) advances to the sectional semifinal on Friday at No. 8 Bishop Dwenger, which defeated Logansport 42-14 in its opening game.
A 6-yard touchdown run from Parker Grimes with 37.9 seconds left to play before half made it 21-13, and Michael Schlechty’s ensuing kickoff went through the end zone for a touchback.
Leo’s Peyton Wall took the handoff from quarterback AJ Restivo and went off the right side of the line.
He cut back toward midfield at the Lions’ 40 and raced past the Patriot defense. A JCHS defender chased him down, tripping him up inside the 5-yard line, but the junior was able to keep his balance for his fourth and final touchdown of the night.
Just like that, the Patriots were behind 28-13 at the intermission with the Lions set to receive to start the second half.
“You can give up some yards even with that type of field and the limited time they have,” Millspaugh said of the night’s longest play from scrimmage. “That was a killer.”
Wall ran the second-half kickoff to midfield, and seven plays later Restivo plunged for a 1-yard touchdown to make it a three-score game.
Wall finished with 133 yards and four touchdowns on eight carries. He had TD runs of 10 and 15 yards in the first quarter and another 15-yard score in the second.
Alex Wertman added 107 yards on 19 carries. Restivo finished with 63 yards on 14 rushes while also completing eight of his 12 pass attempts for 111 yards.
“Our defense did not play well tonight,” Millspaugh said.
Leo rushed for 303 yards, two shy of Jay County’s total offense a week after rushing for 497 yards against Heritage.
Midway through the third quarter, Jay County faced third-and-5 from the Leo 44-yard line. Not liking what he saw out of Leo’s defense, Millspaugh attempted to call a timeout but center Charlie Brunswick snapped the ball anyway.
With some of the players on the field thinking the ball was dead because of Millspaugh’s cry for a timeout, Ryan Schlechty, Grimes and the Patriots kept on with the play. Schlechty was wide open down the left side of the field and Grimes hit him in stride for a 44-yard TD.
“They let him go, he went vertical and the safety didn’t pick him up,” Millspaugh said.
Schlechty, who along with 15 other Patriots had their football careers end, was second on the team with 66 rushing yards, including a 53-yard score in the first quarter.
Grimes had 81 yards on 12 carries and was 12-of-17 through the air for 129 yards and an interception — by none other than Wall, who returned it 77 yards on the final play of the first half.
It was a career-best rushing night for Grimes, a 14-yard improvement from the 63-62 loss Sept. 14 at Bluffton.
“The thing about Parker, he is an athletic kid playing quarterback,” Millspaugh said. “I thought he did a really nice job. I thought we got some good lead blocks to give him creases and he did a good job of seeing cutbacks and he got free.”
Jay County had two fourth-quarter possessions but wasn’t able to cut further into the deficit as it failed to reach the red zone.
“I’m really proud of the effort, especially in the second half,” Millspaugh said. “It wasn’t a clean football game, but the kids gave a lot of effort and I’m really proud of that.”
Just like that, the Patriots were behind 28-13 at the intermission with the Lions set to receive to start the second half.
“You can give up some yards even with that type of field and the limited time they have,” Millspaugh said of the night’s longest play from scrimmage. “That was a killer.”
Wall ran the second-half kickoff to midfield, and seven plays later Restivo plunged for a 1-yard touchdown to make it a three-score game.
Wall finished with 133 yards and four touchdowns on eight carries. He had TD runs of 10 and 15 yards in the first quarter and another 15-yard score in the second.
Alex Wertman added 107 yards on 19 carries. Restivo finished with 63 yards on 14 rushes while also completing eight of his 12 pass attempts for 111 yards.
“Our defense did not play well tonight,” Millspaugh said.
Leo rushed for 303 yards, two shy of Jay County’s total offense a week after rushing for 497 yards against Heritage.
Midway through the third quarter, Jay County faced third-and-5 from the Leo 44-yard line. Not liking what he saw out of Leo’s defense, Millspaugh attempted to call a timeout but center Charlie Brunswick snapped the ball anyway.
With some of the players on the field thinking the ball was dead because of Millspaugh’s cry for a timeout, Ryan Schlechty, Grimes and the Patriots kept on with the play. Schlechty was wide open down the left side of the field and Grimes hit him in stride for a 44-yard TD.
“They let him go, he went vertical and the safety didn’t pick him up,” Millspaugh said.
Schlechty, who along with 15 other Patriots had their football careers end, was second on the team with 66 rushing yards, including a 53-yard score in the first quarter.
Grimes had 81 yards on 12 carries and was 12-of-17 through the air for 129 yards and an interception — by none other than Wall, who returned it 77 yards on the final play of the first half.
It was a career-best rushing night for Grimes, a 14-yard improvement from the 63-62 loss Sept. 14 at Bluffton.
“The thing about Parker, he is an athletic kid playing quarterback,” Millspaugh said. “I thought he did a really nice job. I thought we got some good lead blocks to give him creases and he did a good job of seeing cutbacks and he got free.”
Jay County had two fourth-quarter possessions but wasn’t able to cut further into the deficit as it failed to reach the red zone.
“I’m really proud of the effort, especially in the second half,” Millspaugh said. “It wasn’t a clean football game, but the kids gave a lot of effort and I’m really proud of that.”
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