Back to the mat

The Patriots aren’t playing Sunday.

But it’s still Game Day for the cheerleaders.

Jay County High School’s cheerleading squad will take to the mat for competition for the first time in more than two years Sunday as they compete in the Game Day Small Varsity Division at the Universal Cheerleaders Association Hoosier Regional at Pendleton Heights.

The competition will mark the first time the Patriot cheerleaders have competed since going to the Indiana Cheer Championship State Finals in the time-out division on Nov. 9, 2019.

“It’s good to be back competing,” said senior Kaden Norris. “It’s just the excitement.

“When you’re not doing anything but games it’s fun, but when you’re competing it’s more exciting.”

Most competitions were canceled in 2020 because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Patriots considered a trip to the Indiana State Fair competition this summer — it would have been their first trip since 2016 — but those plans did not work out. They also skipped the Indiana Cheer Championship series held in late October and early November in favor of this weekend’s event.

“We didn’t get to do state fair, which I think they were somewhat disappointed about, especially the seniors,” said JCHS cheer coach Lindsey Peterson. “They wanted to do something.

“And we don’t have a lot of that skill set anymore, in terms of tumbling, but we have good game cheerers. And that’s what (Game Day) is about.”

It’s similar, but not exactly the same, as the ICC time-out division. The competition — it is the first time JCHS has been in the Game Day division — involves a band cheer, a situational sideline cheer (the announcer will call out a game situation and the cheerleaders will have to respond with an appropriate cheer for offense or defense), a crowd-leading cheer and the school song.

Each squad can earn a possible 100 points as they are judged on visual appeal, motion technique, execution and overall impression.

They’re being judged on “engaging the crowd,” Peterson said. “Spirit.”

In general, they should never stop moving and never stop cheering in the routine that has a time limit of three minutes.

Of the squad’s dozen cheerleaders, only four — seniors Mariana Lopez, Mattie Ardizzone and Norris, and junior Lilly Rogers — have previously competed at the high school level.

The rest of the squad is made up of sophomores Mady Fraley, Karci Hopkins and Erin Ring, and freshmen Adriene Denney, Jocelyn Haggard, Jordyn Hutzler, Coryn Blalock and Sydney Huftel.

The Patriots last competed in the Hoosier Regional in 2017, placing second in the medium varsity division behind Silver Creek and earning their second consecutive berth to the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship. (They went on to finish 13th in the nation.) Even if they were to qualify for nationals this time, the squad does not plan to attend the February event in Orlando, Florida.

Jay County takes the mat at 4:59 p.m. Sunday. Also competing in the Game Day Small Varsity Division are Carmel, Center Grove and Jefferson.

Results will be presented virtually about 6 p.m.

“We definitely want to come out on top,” said Ardizzone. “But I just want this routine to be the best we’ve done, be our peak performance and to know we came out and did our best.”