Eskew-ered: Delta crushes Patriots, 42-0 (08/23/03)

MUNCIE — With a clean field and another year of experience under his belt, Tyler Eskew sliced and diced the Jay County defense.

Delta’s junior quarterback tossed for 204 first-half yards and four touchdowns as the Eagles, ranked 7th in Class 3A, blasted the Patriots 42-0 in Friday’s football season opener.

“It’s more than that,” said Jay County coach Shane Hill when asked about the blown coverages and his team’s four turnovers. “Big plays — we cover them deep, and it’s a different ball game — but right now our mental game is bad.

“The coverage, the Xs and Os, we can get that fixed. That’s not a problem. Mentally, we need to look inside ourselves.”

“We have a lot of respect for the way the Jay County program has turned around,” said Delta coach Grant Zgunda. “I thought we played well — especially in the first half.”

The majority of Eskew’s damage was done in the second quarter as Delta took advantage of Jay County’s inability to hold onto the ball. The Patriots’ Alex Loucks fumbled on the second play from scrimmage in the second period to give the Eagles the ball already holding 7-0 lead.

They didn’t waste any time as Zgunda called for the long ball and Eskew hit Ty Benbow for a 52-yard score to complete a laser quick one-play drive.

The Patriots (0-1) got a little something going on the ensuing drive as sophomore quarterback Cory Locke notched his only completion of the game, a 32-yard loft to a leaping Mark Kelly. But, they couldn’t do anything else, and turned the ball back over to Eskew.

Dane Cook opened that drive with a 29-yard run, and four more runs had the Eagles at the 15-yard line. Jay County got a break on a Delta holding penalty, but it didn’t phase Eskew.

Instead, he hit Michael Capstick with a 28-yard scoring pass on the next play, and his 2-point conversion pass to Kevin Lynch made the score 21-0.

A three-and-out Patriot drive gave Delta the ball again with 4:16 to go. Again a holding penalty seemed to help, pushing the Eagles back to their own 29-yard line for a first-and-25 play.

But once more Eskew followed the miscue with a dagger, finding Lynch on a 71-yard scoring strike.

Eskew got the ball one more time in the half after Loucks fumbled on the first play of Jay County’s possession with two minutes on the clock. That was more than enough time, as Reggie Lampkins ran a sweep left, cut back to miss a tackle try from Michael Myers, and cruised to the end zone for the 35-0 halftime lead.

Eskew finished 9-of-14 for 220 yards, tossing just two passes in the second half before Delta went almost exclusively to the running game. He completed touchdown passes to four different receivers, including a 28-yarder to Cook to open the score midway through the first quarter.

“We just got into the game and we felt like they were keying on (running back) Reggie (Lampkins),” said Zgunda. “We weren’t going to force the issue with him. We were able to get them on some play action passes, and Tyler Eskew threw some beautiful balls.”

The Eagles’ other score came on a 22-yard run by Capstick 3:28 into the third period.

Capstick was the No. 3 rusher on the squad with 33 yards on three carries. Lampkins had 17 carries for 94 yards, and Cody McLaughlin rushed for 53 yards on six fourth-quarter carries.

Capstick was also Eskew’s favorite receiver, catching four balls for 59 yards. Lynch had two receptions for 78 yards.

There was some good news for Jay County on the offensive side, as it was able to move the ball. Loucks, a senior fullback, racked up 90 yards on 21 carries, and finally got his team to the red zone when he carried the ball on the final seven plays of the third quarter.

However, the Patriots lost their third fumble of the game three plays into the final period and never got close to the goal line again.

Loucks was trailed by Phil Brown, who carried twice for 16 yards.

“We moved the ball,” said Hill. “The problem is — and Delta has been famous for this for years — you move it between the 20s. As soon as they get to the 20-yard line with their backs against the wall, they say ‘you’re not going to score,’ and somehow they get it done.”

It was the third consecutive year the Patriots have been shut out by Delta to open the season. They lost 52-0 in 2001, and 14-0 in 2002.

Still, Hill put a positive spin on things as he looked toward next week’s home opener next week against Blackford — a must-win situation much like last year.

“If you get beat 42-0 or 14-0, it’s still just 0-1,” he said.[[In-content Ad]]