July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Blackford D silences JCHS (08/26/06)
JCHS football
Blackford D silences JCHS (08/26/06)
By By RAY COONEY-
HARTFORD CITY - Most people from Jay County went home unhappy Friday night. But not Steve Boozier.
Boozier, a JCHS graduate, watched his Blackford Bruins improve to 2-0 by winning a defensive battle 13-7 over the visiting Patriots.
"Last year we were 1-9 and I think the kids maybe doubted themselves a little bit," said Boozier. "Last week we played a team that was a lot older than us and we beat them. And today we beat a school that's bigger than us, Jay County is the biggest school on our schedule ... it's an overall team effort. I don't think the stats are very impressive, but the right team won on the scoreboard and that's all that's important."
The game was a defensive battle throughout as the squads combined for just 197 yards of total offense. They each had just one sustained drive, and the game came down to which team was able to take advantage of the other's mistakes. That team was the Bruins.
Trailing 7-0 early in the second quarter, Blackford (2-0) got its break when Patriot quarterback Billy Wellman was blind-sided and fumbled the ball on his own 12-yard line. The Bruins needed just three plays to score the tying touchdown, then put together their lone sustained drive - 62 yards on six plays - on their next possession for the 13-7 lead.
Both offenses sputtered throughout the second half, but Jay County (0-2) got a big break when a bungled punt gave it the ball on the Bruin 12-yard line late in the third quarter.
A Corey Comer run on the opening play went for five yards, but he went backward four yards on the next play. A false-start penalty and two incompletions followed as the Patriots came up empty.
"The first play from scrimmage we got five yards. Now it's second-and-five, and then the next play we go negative four," said JCHS coach Shane Hill. "That was how we acted tonight.
"I guess we'll have to find out what happened in that first series because they couldn't stop us. It was a knife through butter. They came out the rest of the game and basically their kids just put their cleats farther in the ground and said 'No more.'"
Jay County looked great on its opening drive, moving 71 yards in seven plays. Justin Mann capped the march with a 4-yard touchdown run, and the Patriots were up 7-0 after less than four minutes on the field.
But the visitors managed just 35 yards of offense the rest of the way, and did not record a first down in the second half. In the opening two games, Jay County has totaled just 24 rushing yards.
"We didn't know how good we would be football-wise, but we knew we were going to be better on defense," said Boozier. "We knew our kids were going to play with heart. ... The defense has just been playing exceptional.
"We've had two games where the other team has just driven right down the field on the first drive and scored, and then in both games we've responded."
Most of the Patriots' offense came through the air as Billy Wellman completed 7-of-15 passes for 90 yards, including two passes to Michael Jobe for 48 yards. But, he tossed just two completions in the second half.
Comer was the leading JCHS rusher with 24 yards on 13 carries.
Hill praised his defense - Alex Michael led the team with 13 tackles followed by Michael Karn with eight and Kyle Cook with six - but the Bruin offense did just enough to come away with the win.
After finishing 8-of-8 passing in their opening win over the Bruins, they tossed their first incompletion of the season on the opening play of the second quarter and did not complete a pass all night.
Alex Ort paced the running attack with eight carries for 53 yards, including a 38-yard pitch around the left end on Blackford's second scoring drive. Corey Overmyer added 35 yards on 13 carries.
Hill said his team had high hopes after last week's opening loss to state-ranked Delta, and hoped to explode on the Bruins. After the defeat, he went to the Blackford huddle and addressed the opposing team.
"They came out with more intensity, with more fire," Hill said. "I just told them that I was proud of them. I don't know if they believed they could win, but I guarantee you half way through the game they thought they could win."[[In-content Ad]]
Boozier, a JCHS graduate, watched his Blackford Bruins improve to 2-0 by winning a defensive battle 13-7 over the visiting Patriots.
"Last year we were 1-9 and I think the kids maybe doubted themselves a little bit," said Boozier. "Last week we played a team that was a lot older than us and we beat them. And today we beat a school that's bigger than us, Jay County is the biggest school on our schedule ... it's an overall team effort. I don't think the stats are very impressive, but the right team won on the scoreboard and that's all that's important."
The game was a defensive battle throughout as the squads combined for just 197 yards of total offense. They each had just one sustained drive, and the game came down to which team was able to take advantage of the other's mistakes. That team was the Bruins.
Trailing 7-0 early in the second quarter, Blackford (2-0) got its break when Patriot quarterback Billy Wellman was blind-sided and fumbled the ball on his own 12-yard line. The Bruins needed just three plays to score the tying touchdown, then put together their lone sustained drive - 62 yards on six plays - on their next possession for the 13-7 lead.
Both offenses sputtered throughout the second half, but Jay County (0-2) got a big break when a bungled punt gave it the ball on the Bruin 12-yard line late in the third quarter.
A Corey Comer run on the opening play went for five yards, but he went backward four yards on the next play. A false-start penalty and two incompletions followed as the Patriots came up empty.
"The first play from scrimmage we got five yards. Now it's second-and-five, and then the next play we go negative four," said JCHS coach Shane Hill. "That was how we acted tonight.
"I guess we'll have to find out what happened in that first series because they couldn't stop us. It was a knife through butter. They came out the rest of the game and basically their kids just put their cleats farther in the ground and said 'No more.'"
Jay County looked great on its opening drive, moving 71 yards in seven plays. Justin Mann capped the march with a 4-yard touchdown run, and the Patriots were up 7-0 after less than four minutes on the field.
But the visitors managed just 35 yards of offense the rest of the way, and did not record a first down in the second half. In the opening two games, Jay County has totaled just 24 rushing yards.
"We didn't know how good we would be football-wise, but we knew we were going to be better on defense," said Boozier. "We knew our kids were going to play with heart. ... The defense has just been playing exceptional.
"We've had two games where the other team has just driven right down the field on the first drive and scored, and then in both games we've responded."
Most of the Patriots' offense came through the air as Billy Wellman completed 7-of-15 passes for 90 yards, including two passes to Michael Jobe for 48 yards. But, he tossed just two completions in the second half.
Comer was the leading JCHS rusher with 24 yards on 13 carries.
Hill praised his defense - Alex Michael led the team with 13 tackles followed by Michael Karn with eight and Kyle Cook with six - but the Bruin offense did just enough to come away with the win.
After finishing 8-of-8 passing in their opening win over the Bruins, they tossed their first incompletion of the season on the opening play of the second quarter and did not complete a pass all night.
Alex Ort paced the running attack with eight carries for 53 yards, including a 38-yard pitch around the left end on Blackford's second scoring drive. Corey Overmyer added 35 yards on 13 carries.
Hill said his team had high hopes after last week's opening loss to state-ranked Delta, and hoped to explode on the Bruins. After the defeat, he went to the Blackford huddle and addressed the opposing team.
"They came out with more intensity, with more fire," Hill said. "I just told them that I was proud of them. I don't know if they believed they could win, but I guarantee you half way through the game they thought they could win."[[In-content Ad]]
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