July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.

2nd-half snipers

JCHS boys soccer
2nd-half snipers
2nd-half snipers

By RAY COONEY
President, editor and publisher

HARTFORD CITY - There was no impassioned speech, no great change of strategy. But in the 10-minute span of halftime Saturday - twice - the Patriots became a different team.

Jay County High School's boys soccer team scored 11 second-half goals in their two sectional games Saturday, including all of its tallies in a 5-0 championship game victory over the host Blackford Bruins.

The second-half surges carried the Patriots, who clobbered the South Adams Starfires 8-1 in the semifinal round, to their second consecutive sectional title.

"I'm happy for these kids. What a game. What a second half," said JCHS coach Alan Bailey after the title game. "They just came out and just plain played that second half.

"I didn't basically tell them anything at halftime, they just had to go hard and go after them. And man they did.

"I'm proud of the boys. What a job."

After scoring six times in the second half in the win over South Adams, the Patriots (14-4) needed less than a minute to break a scoreless halftime tie with Blackford.

Following the kickoff to start the second half, Patrick Johnson pushed through the middle of the Bruins defense. He was halted just inside the 18-yard box, but eventually dropped the ball off to Jeremiah Cotherman.

The senior, who is left-footed, hit a shot to the upper left corner with his right foot to put Jay County on the board with 39:17 on the clock.

"I'm really pumped," said Cotherman. "One, you get the first goal, and then two, you win again. It's just amazing. ... It's a great feeling."

The score opened the floodgates.

Brad Horn, now the state scoring leader with 44 goals, used his footwork to outmaneuver Kyle Snodgrass and Kurt Spencer just over a minute after Cotherman's score. Once he got open on the right side, Blackford goalie Jordan McCammon had no chance to stop him as Horn blasted a shot to the left corner.

Horn made it 3-0 off a Dillon Ainsworth assist with 31:58 on the clock, and completed his hat trick off an assist from Colton Bartlett five minutes later.

"We knew they were tired," said Horn, who also scored three goals in the win over South Adams. "We were both tired. But we just came out and started rolling after that first goal Jeremiah made.

"That first goal is so important."

Horn said the sectional title was even sweeter coming against the Bruins, on their home field. Blackford defeated the Patriots 4-1 at JCHS on Sept. 10.

Jay County advances to the regional, which will also be played at Blackford, to play Muncie Central (13-3) Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The other regional semifinal game will pit Yorktown (10-5-1) against New Haven (10-7-1) Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

The Patriots lost 4-0 to Muncie Central in their season opener.

Colton McCombs and Ben Brandt finished off the JCHS scoring onslaught in the second half as McCombs first had a shot deflect off of a Blackford defender. Brandt followed only to have McCammon reject his shot, and McCombs and the Blackford goalie collided as they chased down the loose ball. That left the net open for Brandt, who scored with 9:10 left on the clock.

Jay County finished with eight shots on goal while limiting the Bruins to only three, all of which were save by Adam Daniels.

"I'll tell you what, they had our number today," said Blackford coach Jeff Slusser, whose team finished at 12-5-1. "There's no doubt about it. We got out-played. They were the team that deserved to win tonight. Our kids gave good effort, but Alan (Bailey) had them prepared to play us. ... Jay County deserves what they're getting right now.

"I think in the first half what we saw was two teams that played some really hard disorganized soccer. And then in the second half, I think when they scored quickly they became a lot more cohesive and we just continued to play the frantic soccer. ... We were playing from behind, and that's not where you want to be playing against them."

Horn and Patrick Johnson scored three times apiece against South Adams, each taking a first-half assist from Ben Brandt to stake the Patriots to a 2-0 lead. The Starfires pulled to within 2-1 when they converted a penalty kick, but Horn and Johnson finished their hat tricks in the second half.

Aldo Castro added a score on Brandt's third assist in the second half, and McCombs finished the scoring on an assist from Josh Priest. Carlos Esquivel and Johnson also each had one assist.

Horn has now scored 15 times in Jay County's last four games.

"He's just unbelievable," said Bailey. "He's the top scorer in the state now, there's no doubt about it. He just knows how to put it in the net. The kid's awesome. ... I've never had anything like him."

The lone South Adams goal came midway through the first half when the Patriots were called for a foul within the 18-yard box. Blake Bauman converted the shot to the right side as Daniels guessed incorrectly with a dive toward the left post.

South Adams coach Tom Sprunger said he was happy his team didn't give up despite the large second-half deficit.

"Definitely the biggest thing was down 8-1 they were still playing like it was tied," said Sprunger, whose team finished at 3-15. "That's one thing that impresses me about this group, they do not let down. They play good soccer.

"We definitely played hard the whole time.

"Out of everyone we've seen, Jay has the best ball movement. They're well skilled, pretty balanced ..."

Jay County has won six consecutive games, scoring at least four goals in each and topping its opponents by a combined 37-7.[[In-content Ad]]
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