Jay to play at Delta

INDIANAPOLIS — For the first time in three years, the Patriots open the postseason on the road.

They don’t have to travel very far, though, and they meet a former rival.

In the IHSAA football sectional tournament selection show Thursday, the Jay County Patriots received an opening-round matchup with the Delta Eagles in rural Muncie.

Jay County (0-7), which has hosted the sectional quarterfinal game each of the last two seasons — it fell 47-7 to New Haven last year and 35-21 to Leo in 2018 — meets the Delta Eagles 5-1 when the tournament begins Oct. 23.

The winner advances to the sectional semifinal against either the Huntington North Vikings (3-4) or the Wayne Generals (1-6) on Oct. 30.

The top half of the bracket pits the Marion Giants (4-3) against defending sectional champion Mississinewa Indians (3-4). In the other quarterfinal game, the South Side Archers (1-6) host the New Haven Bulldogs (4-3).

Semifinal winners advance to the sectional championship Nov. 6.

Jay County and Delta played every year since JCHS opened in 1975 until 2017. The Eagles have a 34-11 edge in the series. Delta has won 27 straight meetings on the field against Jay County, though it had to forfeit its 55-0 victory on 2011 because of an ineligible player. The streak by the Eagles also includes the Patriots’ largest loss in program history, an 81-14 score at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis in 1999.

The last on-field victory for Jay County over Delta was a 36-19 triumph in 1992.