Bell(mont) rung

DECATUR — Last season, the Patriots carried a seven-year drought without a sectional victory. They snapped that streak with a 35-point win against the Braves.

In the rematch, the Braves bore a seven-year winless streak in the sectional. While the first two drives looked promising to keep the game close, the double-wing proved too much and the visitors handed the Braves another 35-point loss.

After changing its offensive approach, the Jay County High School football team ran smoothly against the Bellmont Braves for a 35-0 victory in the IHSAA Class 3A Sectional 28 opener Friday.

The win sets a sectional semifinal date with No. 6 Mississinewa (9-1) on Oct. 31 at JCHS.

“I’m really happy for the kids,” said Jay County coach Eddie Fields. “Two in a row is awesome, but got some stuff to clean up though for sure.”

One of the things the Patriots (4-6) may want to look into cleaning up is how they start the game. Jay County opened against the Braves (0-10), who hold a 42-game losing streak dating back to 2021, with a pair of three-and-outs before finally finding a rhythm.

The improvement came on the third drive when the offense went to what the Patriots call a “double tight” with no receivers, two tight ends on either side of the line and a pair of wing backs out wide with a fullback behind Nick Laux under center. The formation often featured Leighton Brown as one of the wing backs with Brady Jetmore or Carter Fugiett, who just returned from an injury suffered against Bluffton in week No. 5, on the opposite side. One of the wings would be put into motion to run a few yards behind the fullback and receive a pitch from Laux after the ball was snapped. With the opportunity to get going downhill, Jay County’s run game carved up Bellmont for 343 yards on 44 attempts.

“It’s kind of where we’ve found our stride in our offense,” Brown said. “Our offense has found our identity in that set alone, running the ball out of the double tight and those short little quick passes out of our pro set. … If we can find that deep pass, our offense is going to open up so much more and it’s going to be fun to watch.”

Brown had a 30-yard scamper to get JCHS into the red zone during the third drive, eventually setting up a 2-yard keeper by Laux to score. After finding a rhythm with the double wing, Jay County scored on five of its seven remaining drives. (The two times it didn’t score, the ball was turned over on a goal-line interception and a fumble.)

All five of the Patriots’ touchdowns came on the ground, including three from Brown. The junior ran the ball 24 times for 255 yards. He punched the ball in from the 1-yard line in the second quarter, had a 3-yard TD rush in the third and powered 17 yards through Bellmont defenders for a score early in the fourth period.

“It’s a good game,” Brown said. “I feel like my performance has been on the up and up in recent weeks.

“I want to point out, the O-line’s improvement from last year to this year, it’s unbelievable.”

The final touchdown of the game came on a rush by Garrett Bennett 2 yards away from the end zone.

While the offense took care of business, the defense shut off the lights on BHS.

The Braves only got within 25 yards of the end zone twice. The first time came on their opening possession, but Jason Lykins fumbled the ball on the 27-yard line before making it back to the line of scrimmage and a pack of Patriots pounced on the pigskin.

Bellmont again tested the Jay County defense to start the second half. Lawton Bultemeier jumped on a squib kick from Brody Collins at the Patriots’ 45-yard line to start the ball with positive field position. The Braves worked their way to the 12-yard line before a holding penalty brought them back to the 22.

They kept pushing as a 6-yard reception by Lykins and a carry for another 9 by the sophomore had BHS on the 7-yard line.

However, the Patriots responded with a pair of big stops as Mason White was brought down for a 7-yard loss and Grant Wendel kept a close cover on White the next possession for a turnover on downs.

“All week we practiced putting pressure on the football, because they had fumbled a lot all year,” Fields said. “We just prepared for putting pressure on the football, making physical tackles, running guys. The last three weeks our defensive guys have ran the ball much better and it’s showed.”

The JCHS defense also helped the offense out by forcing four Bellmont turnovers on a pair of fumble recoveries and two interceptions.

Jay County will now set its sights on the semifinal game, in which it will face one-loss Mississinewa.

“There’s a lot of things I’m going to talk about with the kids and just what’s feasible and ahead of us,” Fields said. “But it’s starting with our JV having a winning record; we just surpassed the win total from last year and one more win and you’re playing for a championship in year one.

“When you get beat by Southern Wells earlier in the year, nobody expects that. The community kinda got down, but it’s awesome for our kids to know there’s a bright future.”