McCoy nets four in JC victory

Payton McCoy had one multi-goal game in her previous three seasons.

She had a career day Saturday.

McCoy, a Jay County High School senior, scored four goals in leading the Patriot girls soccer team to a 6-2 victory against the Burris Owls.

It was the first career hat trick for McCoy, whose previous best offensive day was a two-goal game Aug. 20, 2019, against Allen County Athletic Conference rival Woodlan.

McCoy’s first goal came in the 12th minute when she stole a goal kick, went up the right side of the pitch and booted the ball to the right side of the net. Her second came almost 10 minutes later on a through pass from Gabi Bilbrey as Jay County (3-0) had taken a 3-0 lead at that point.

She completed her hat trick in the 37th minute on a Bilbrey assist, then scored No. 4 in the 45th minute.

Bilbrey put the Patriots on top 2-0 when she headed in an Eliza Bader corner kick in the 15th minute. Bader then scored in the 72nd minute after Burris had broken the shutout five minutes earlier.



Jay girls take first

The Jay County girls golf team finished first Monday in a match with Bluffton and Monroe Central on Monday at Portland Golf Club.

The Patriots shot 212. Bluffton and Monroe Central both totaled 222, but Bluffton earned second because of the fifth-golfer tiebreaker. Monroe Central only had four players.

Raquel Wehrly was the Patriots’ top golfer with her score of 47, which earned her match medalist honors and was four strokes ahead of teammate Abby Huey.

Erika Heitkamp was third for Jay County with her score of 55, and Jacqueline Smith shot 59.

Paityn Chapman shot 60 but did not factor into the team total.



Boys soccer falls

For the second consecutive game, the Jay County boys soccer team lost on a late goal as it dropped a 3-2 score to Allen County Athletic Conference rival Woodlan.

Jay County (0-2, 0-1 ACAC) and Woodlan were knotted at 2-2 after the first half. Gio Perod and Cristian Marentes scored the goals for the Patriots before intermission.

Woodlan scored a goal early in the second half and held on for the close victory.

Ian Ruiz turned away four shots in net for the Patriots.

Jay JV drops opener

OSSIAN — Jay County’s junior varsity football team lost its season opener Monday to the host Norwell Knights, 46-0.

Norwell scored 16 points in the first quarter and led 30-0 at halftime. The Knights pushed the score to 38-0 at the end of the third quarter before adding another touchdown in the final period.

Trey Nichols had a fumble recovery for Jay County (0-1), and Justin DeHoff had an interception in the defeat.



Patriots win

The Jay County seventh and eighth grade volleyball teams began a new era Monday by beating the Blackford Bruins.

The eighth graders won 25-16, 25-17, and the seventh grade squad won 25-0, 25-11.

Kiley Williams paced the eighth graders with five kills, and Heavyn Willoughby chipped in four kills. Cassi Petro was third with three kills. Brenna bailey finished with four digs, and Meredith Dirksen ended with four assists.

Lani Muhlenkamp had a whopping 26 aces for the seventh graders, serving the entire first match. Elizabeth Barnett had five aces, while Kayla Jetmore, Cami Barnett and Lilly Johnson had two aces each.