A familiar feeling

The Patriots went into halftime in an unfamiliar situation. 

They had the lead after two quarters.

Their next trip to the locker room came with a feeling experienced too many times — battered and bruised following another setback.

Bluffton needed two plays to reach the end zone in the third quarter and scored 29 unanswered points in handing the Jay County High School football team a 43-19 loss Friday on homecoming.

“It was just a matter of execution,” Bluffton coach Brent Kunkel said of how the Tigers (4-1, 2-1 Allen County Athletic Conference) were able to swing the game in their favor in the third quarter. “We had some things open and we didn’t hit them. We didn’t tackle real well.

“It was just a matter of guys making plays when their number is called.”

It was the fifth straight loss to begin the season for the Patriots (0-5, 0-3 ACAC), the worst such start to the year since 2003.

Bluffton’s comeback in the third quarter started with quarterback Hayden Nern.

The Tigers’ first drive of the second half started on their own 38-yard line, and the junior signal caller began the possession with an 8-yard strike to Kain Thornton, which would be a common theme over the final 24 minutes.

Nern’s next pass was a 54-yard touchdown to a wide-open Cade Mittlestedt over the middle of the field, and after a 2-point conversion the Tigers had a 22-19 advantage they never surrendered.

Thornton had a strip-sack of Jay County quarterback Sam Dunlavy on the Patriots’ 12th play of the ensuing drive. Nern, Thornton and Mittlestedt went back to work.

It took the Tigers seven plays to go 72 yards, including six pass plays — four to Thornton for 12, 13, 23 and 7 yards. Nern connected with Mittlestedt again as well for 17 yards, and Kaden Gerber capped the scoring drive with a 3-yard TD.

Nern completed seven consecutive pass plays in the third quarter and finished 14-of-23 for 295 yards and two touchdowns, including an 85-yard TD to Thornton in the first quarter.

“Hayden has that ability,” Kunkel said. “‘I’ve coached Hayden since he was in seventh grade. When he gets in zones and rhythms like that it’s fun to watch.”

Thornton caught eight of Nern’s passes for 189 yards. Mittlestedt had four catches for 88 yards as well as 108 yards on nine carries with two touchdowns, a 63-yard scamper in the first quarter and a 50-yard run on the first play of the fourth.

“Having those weapons makes our offense pretty dangerous at times,” Kunkel said.

Jay County coach Tim Millspaugh said the game plan coming in was to try to take away Mittlestedt and Thornton. He lined up on both sides of the offensive line and in bunch formations too making it tough for the Patriot defense to match up with him.

“It was difficult constantly trying to find him,” Millspaugh said. “They were moving him around on us (forcing us to try) to find him so they could get some open looks and get those guys the ball in space and unfortunately they were able to do that.”

Jay County and Bluffton went toe-to-toe in the first quarter, bringing back memories of the 63-62 win by the Tigers a year ago in the highest combined point total in JCHS history.

The Patriots struck first as Dunlavy connected with Rylee Huftel for a 19-yard touchdown on the team’s second possession.

Bluffton quickly answered with Nern’s bomb to Thornton, and Jay County fired right back on a two-play drive capped by a Huftel 35-yard TD run during which he broke multiple tacklers and dragged others into the end zone.

Bailey Cox had 106 yards on 23 carries and 41 more yards on two catches, and Huftel finished with 79 total yards (43 rushing, 36 receiving). Dunlavy was 6-of-15 for 95 yards.

Mittlestedt’s first rushing score put the Tigers out front 14-13 late in the first quarter, and Cox pummeled his way to the end zone with 4:14 to play before half as Jay County went into halftime on top 19-14.

But much like it did two weeks ago on the road at Southern Wells, the Patriots went back into the locker room after the fourth quarter with another loss. This time, bruised and limping from a physical second half, they were greeted by cheers from the homecoming crowd.

“When those kids clapped four our kids coming off the field, that says a lot about our student body,” Millspaugh said. Kunkle also praised the Patriot fans postgame.

“I totally respected and appreciate them,” Millspaugh continued. “I know those kids that were very dejected … to come off the field and get greeted like that, absolutely nothing but props and respect for our student body.”