Third and ball game

Ryan Schlechty has 1,111 rushing yards in his career.

Perhaps none were more important than the five he covered late in the fourth quarter Friday.

On third-and-4 from the Patriot 49, Schlechty took a handoff from Parker Grimes and went through a hole on the right side of the offensive line.

He crossed midfield and was met by Christian Summersett, who stood Schlechty up in an attempt to make a stop. Spenser Clark stepped in to help Summersett, but Schlechty kept churning his legs. He reached the 49, then the 48, legs still powering through the pair of Starfires.

Michael Schlechty joined his twin brother, pushing forward for another yard. They got to the 47, then the latter Schlechty fell to the grass at the 46-yard line.

First down.

Ball game.

Schlechty’s third-down conversion helped the Jay County High School football team hang on for a 15-14 homecoming victory over the Class A No. 8 South Adams Starfires on Friday at Harold E. Schutz Stadium.

“I have to give it to my guys up front,” Ryan Schlechty said. “My lead blockers made a hole and I just ran through it.”

It was a statement win the Patriots (3-4, 2-3 Allen County Athletic Conference) so desperately needed after three consecutive losses during which they allowed more than 500 total yards to both Bluffton and Adams Central before surrendering nearly 400 last week against Woodlan. 

“There is no question this is a huge win,” said JCHS coach Tim Millspaugh, whose team hosts Thurgood Marshall (Dayton, Ohio) on Oct. 5 for the final home game of the regular season. “Any time you can beat a ranked team, that is a big deal. Any time you can win a homecoming game, that is a big deal.

“Make no mistake, (South Adams) is a good football team.”

But Starfire coach Grant Moser, whose team falls to 5-2 (2-2 ACAC) after consecutive losses, was left blaming the loss on the growing pains of having a young team.

“We just showed our youth too much tonight which is what you hate,” he said. “Penalties, the mistakes, that’s just youth mistakes that we hope we can fix as we get older.

“That’s a bad loss for our program.”

South Adams, which started 5-0 but suffered a 49-12 loss to Class 1A No. 2 Adams Central a week ago, was in prime position for a game-winning drive. Following a Michael Schlechty punt, the Starfires took over at their own 26, trailing by one point with 2:46 left on the clock and all three timeouts.

Sophomore quarterback James Arnold found Summersett in the right flat for a 13-yard gain before an 8-yard strike to Nick Miller on the right sideline.

On second-and-2, Arnold stepped up in the pocket to avoid pressure and threw to his right. The ball went off the hands of his receiver and into the arms of JCHS corner Landon Grimes, who bobbled the ball but came up with the interception.

“That’s just a rough interception,” Moser said. Arnold finished 10-of-14 passing for 103 yards and three interceptions. He also added 100 yards rushing, 94 of which came on a run in the second quarter. “James feels horrible but that’s not his fault. It was a tipped ball. Two of his three picks were tips. Hit receivers in the hands.

“He’s going to take it hard tonight, we have other guys that are going to take it hard. But we just have to keep moving forward and keep getting better.”

Caleb Webster and Ryan Schlechty also picked off Arnold passes, and Schlechty had a blindside sack of Arnold earlier in the fourth quarter.

“The defense played so well,” Millspaugh said. The 14 points were the fewest it had allowed all season.

“It’s a really big improvement,” Ryan Schlechty said. “We’re really excited about it. It’s also a confidence booster, too, just seeing everybody get hyped and stuff.”

Jay County grabbed an uncommon 2-0 advantage late in the first quarter. Drake Deitsch intercepted a Grimes pass in the end zone, stepped past the goal line and then back into the end zone before getting chased down by Ryan Schlechty for the safety.

South Adams got its only lead of the game in the second quarter after stopping Jay County inches from the goal line. On its first play of the quarter, Arnold kept it himself and went all the way down to the Patriot 5, but the Stars lost 15 yards because of a sideline infraction.

One play later, Summersett — he had 127 yards on 17 carries — ran 20 yards for a score before going up the gut for the conversion and an 8-2 Starfire lead.

“I thought Summersett ran the ball pretty hard,” said Moser, whose team hosts Woodlan on Oct. 5. Summersett also had a 4-yard TD run in the third quarter, but the potential game-tying PAT was wide left. “He ran the ball well.”

The Patriots tied the game on a 5-yard touchdown run by Trey Castillo late in the first half, and went ahead 15-8 on Michael Schlechty’s 20-yard TD run in the third.

“I feel great for our football team, but especially for our defense,” Millspaugh said. “I’m just so proud of those guys to continue to work and believe in themselves.”