Four Patriots make all-ACAC

The Patriots took their bumps and bruises on the gridiron this fall.

Four of them were honored for those battles.

A quartet of Jay County High School football players were honored as the Allen County Athletic Conference announced its all-conference teams on Wednesday.

Senior Bailey Cox was placed on the first team defense as a lineman. He finished with 31 tackles, including a team-high five tackles for loss, and he led the team with three sacks.

Rylee Huftel, another JCHS senior was named second team linebacker. His 60 tackles were tops for the Patriots, and he added three tackles for loss and had one of the team’s four interceptions.

Fellow senior Sheldon Eley was named first team as punter. He booted 39 kicks for an average of 34.5 yards per punt, including a long of 75 yards. Five of his kicks were downed inside the opponent’s 20 yard line.

Jay County’s lone offensive representative was junior lineman Wyatt Bergman, who was all-conference second team.

The Patriots were 0-9 this year, marking the first winless season in program history.

Two-time conference champion South Adams had 14 total players earn all-ACAC recognition.