Fateful fumble

PONETO — Bailey Cox made his season debut and was a workhorse with the ball in his hands.

He had made 27 carries, bruised his way to 156 yards and scored two touchdowns, all of which were career highs.

His two scores were also the first two TDs of the year for the Patriots.

But there’s one carry he’d like to have back.

Late in the fourth quarter with his team down by two, Cox crossed midfield and lost his grip on the ball. The Raiders recovered the fumble at their own 44-yard line.

Five plays later, Jacob Duncan iced the game.

Jay County High School’s football team allowed 20 unanswered points in the second half Friday as its hope for the first win of the season slipped away in a 20-12 loss to the host Southern Wells Raiders in the Allen County Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

“Toss wasn’t working all night and I tried cutting it back,” Cox said of his fateful fumble. “I didn’t have ball security. I kept my elbow too low, wasn’t keeping it high enough. Didn’t grip the ball, I just fumbled it.

“It was my fault, that whole turnaround. They scored, so I took the blame for that.”

Jay County coach Tim Millspaugh, whose team went 114 minutes, 29 seconds without scoring a point to start the season, wouldn’t let Cox feel like the scapegoat.

“I totally respect the fact he wants to take responsibility,” Millspaugh said. “That’s what you want out of your guys.

“Jay County loses. We are a ‘we’ team, but you definitely want your dudes to say ‘That’s on me.’ That says a lot about the character of those guys.”

Southern Wells (1-2, 1-0 ACAC) gained 7 yards on a Xavier Walden run on the drive’s first play, and Jordan Duncan followed with a 9-yard scamper on second-and-3.

Walden had a 3-yard touchdown run earlier in the quarter that tied the game, and Jed Perry’s 2-point conversion run gave the Raiders the 14-12 lead with 5:17 remaining.

William Fiechter, who put the Raiders on the board in the third quarter with a 6-yard score, traveled 18 yards on the next play to get Southern Wells down to the 22, and Walden went the next seven yards.

Facing second-and-3 from the 15, Duncan took a sweep down the right sideline to paydirt.

“Obviously it’s frustrating,” Millspaugh said of letting the 12-0 lead early in the third quarter slip away. “It’s frustrating for the kids.

“It’s a lack of mental toughness. We have to handle the momentum changes better than that. Ultimately you determine how the next play goes regardless of the last play … We’ve got to be mentally tougher than that when things start to go against us.”

The ensuing drive for Jay County (0-3, 0-1 ACAC) started at its own 45 with 2:15 remaining. Later, on first down from the Southern Wells 44, quarterback Sam Dunlavy connected with Kess McBride for a 22-yard pass. A Cox run yielded one yard, and Dunlavy’s pass on second down fell incomplete. Dunlavy was sacked for a 10-yard loss on the next play, and he managed to gain just seven yards scrambling fourth down.

“It’s depressing,” senior Charlie Brunswick said of the loss. “You work your butt off all summer and you work your butt off in the winter lifting weights … come out here and do well the first half, we do well in the third quarter and we just can’t finish. It’s depressing.”

After opening with another scoreless quarter — the ninth straight for Jay County to start the season — the Patriots ended their shutout streak with a five-play scoring drive in the second.

Cox bullied his way for 15 yards on second-and-11 from the SWHS 46, and Rylee Huftel — he had 61 yards on six carries in his season debut — went for 5 yards. Cox then broke five tackles on his way to a 26-yard touchdown, Jay County’s first of the season.

He also had a 1-yard TD run two minutes into the second half that put the Patriots on top 12-0.

“Obviously you need to move the football and you have to score,” Millspaugh said. The Patriots gained 256 yards Friday after totaling just 73 combined through their first two games. “The longer you go without doing that it certainly is demoralizing.

“I think the kids were excited about that.”