Highlights are aplenty already

It seems like ages ago (Aug. 3) that girls golf began its season.

But over the course of the last 10 days, the rest of the area fall sports teams got their respective schedules underway.

Despite the newness of the season as a whole, there have already been a handful of breakout performances and highlights.

I’d like to take the time to put some of those in the spotlight.



Week one wins

Both the Jay County and Fort Recovery football teams opened the year with a win in week one. 

Jay County, with its 33-6 thrashing of the Blackford Bruins, ended a school-record losing streak of 10 straight games that dated back to the final regular-season game of 2019. 

Quinn Faulkner showed out, rushing for 179 yards and three touchdowns for the Patriots, who travel to Huntington North on Friday.

Behind the career night from Riley Hiser, Fort Recovery blasted Wayne Trace 39-19 in its season opener on Friday. Hiser became the third player in school history to rush for five touchdowns in a single game. His 284 rushing yards rank fourth in team history.

The Tribe’s season-opening win was the 11th in the last 12 years — Fort Recovery lost to Marion Local in its opener during the conference-only, coronavirus-shortened 2020 campaign.



Silent start

It may have been hard to notice because the results have been buried in local roundups, but Jay County’s boys soccer team has quietly put together a 3-0 start to the season.

Prior to the year, coach Brad Horn said the play of his midfielders — senior Gavin Muhlenkamp as well as brothers Cristian (senior) and Dylan (freshman) Marentes — was going to dictate how the season would play out.

Through three games, Cristian Marentes has three goals, and brother Dylan has two. 

Muhlenkamp has one goal. Freshman forward Levi Muhlenkamp has tied the older Marentes with three goals as well.

The Patriots, who are on the road for their first six games before returning home Sept. 14, beat sectional rival New Castle 2-0 Tuesday and meet fellow sectional foes Delta tonight and Yorktown on Saturday.

It is possible for Jay County to be sitting at 6-0 when it finally plays at home.



Tennis finding groove

Under first-year coach Donald Gillespie, Jay County’s boys tennis team seems to have found a groove after a bit of a slow start to the season.

After going winless in the New Castle Invitational to open the season Aug. 14, the Patriots have gone 4-2. Highlighting that stretch was a 4-1 victory Aug. 17 at home against Alexandria-Monroe, the first win over the Tigers in six tries.

Jay County lost only two players from its 2020 team that won the sectional title, and it has already asserted its dominance over two sectional rivals. The Patriots swept Randolph Southern during the Muncie Burris Invitational on Saturday at Ball State, and on Monday beat Union City 5-0 as well. 

The Patriots have their regular-season match against Randolph Southern at home Sept. 7, and meet Winchester on the road Sept. 16.

••••••••••

There are plenty more opportunities for every local team to have their own highlights and continue any strong starts they are experiencing.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, a handful of teams have had slow starts, but there’s plenty of time to turn things around on the rush to the postseason.

Here’s to a fun, and safe, rest of the fall season.