Knight of struggles

OSSIAN — The Patriots struggled mightily at moving the football.

They had trouble stopping the Knights as well.

The Jay County High School football team crossed midfield just once and gave up almost 400 yards of total offense Friday in a 42-0 loss to the host Norwell Knights at The Courtyard.

“Obviously I don't love the way we struggled to move the ball,” said JCHS coach Tim Millspaugh, whose team has now lost its opener to the Knights in back-to-back seasons.

Norwell coach Josh Gerber said he was pleased with the performance of his veteran team.

“Felt like coming into the game we had a good game plan and we had a good week of practice and preparation,” he said. “The kids came out and executed it, so credit to our kids for doing what we asked them to.

“It's nice to have a veteran group with a shortened summer. It gives us a distinct advantage over a young team like Jay County.”

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The struggle for the Patriots (0-1) was prevalent early, as eight of the first dozen plays they ran during the first quarter went for no gain or negative yards. They went three-and-out on two of their first three drives.

Jay County ended with just 62 yards of total offense, including 48 on the ground despite Bailey Cox and Quinn Faulkner finishing with 31 and 30 rushing yards, respectively.

Out of the Patriots' 31 offensive plays — taking away the four incomplete passes and one interception — they were stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage 18 times.

“The defense is going to be the strength of our team this year and we knew that coming in,” Gerber said. “We told the guys our goals is to be one of the best defenses in the state of Indiana.

“We think we have the potential to do that. We have a veteran group back.”

Norwell (1-0) wasted little time flexing its muscles offensively, especially on the strength of Max Ringger's legs. The Knights' first play, a Ringger run, went for 17 yards as their opening drive started on the Jay County 45. Two plays later, quarterback Eli Riley recorded the first of his two passing touchdowns, a 16-yard slant to Luke Graft.

Norwell made it 14-0 on its next drive, which lasted just four plays as Riley connected with Bo Morgan on a swing pass for a 7-yard score.

Riley finished 4-of-7 for 78 yards and two touchdowns.

Ringger scored the first of his two TDs in the second quarter, going through the left side of the line from the 7-yard line late in the third quarter.

His second score was in the third quarter, a 12-yard scamper up the middle that made it 35-0 and forced a running clock.

Ringger finished with 156 yards on 18 carries.

“Really pleased with how Max ran the ball,” Gerber said. “He finishes runs well. He wasn't falling backward, he was falling forward. He made some nice cuts, some nice reads. (Offensive) line did a nice job opening some holes for him, the creases, he found them and he was able to get to where he needed to be.”

Most of his runs were straight up the gut through the Patriot defense, and Millspaugh was not pleased with the way his team defended on those plays. It was the thing they spent the most time on in practice.

“The belly play, that's the No. 1 play we worked on all week,” Millspaugh said. “It's not that we didn't go there, it's that we didn't (defend) it correctly.”

Millspaugh noted the Knights brought an extra blocker through the hole Ringger was running through, and the JCHS defense didn't account for the extra body.

“He runs hard,” Millspaugh said of Ringger. “He runs hard, but I really felt like we would be able to handle the line of scrimmage and then our linebackers would be able to fit better on the belly play.”

Norwell also returned an interception for a touchdown late in the second quarter.

After Ringger's first score, Jay County attempted a pass on the first play of its ensuing drive, which started at the 35-yard line. Sam Dunlavy, who finished 2-for-6 for 14 yards and was sacked once for a 5-yard loss, threw to Sheldon Eley on an out route to the left. Norwell's Isaiah Brege undercut the throw, which appeared to be slightly toward the middle of the field, picked off the pass and, after shedding Eley, ran 40 yards untouched to the end zone.

Eley, listed at 5 feet, 9 inches and 148 pounds, was simply undersized against the 6-foot-1, 203-pound Brege.

“We just have to continue to develop physically so we can match up with a team like that,” said Millspaugh, whose team hosts Huntington North on Friday.