Gilbert powers Pats to 1st round victory (10/22/05)

PENDLETON — A team that felt it hadn’t gotten enough respect earned a huge dose by beating a big-play opponent at its own game.

The Jay County Patriots, who many figured wouldn’t be able to keep up with the impressive aerial attack of Pendleton Heights, got a school-record setting performance from one of its two star running backs and a gritty effort from its defense in a 41-28 first-round sectional victory here Friday night.

JCHS back Justin Gilbert, who passed the 1,000-yard mark in a win last week at South Dearborn, left that mark in the dust as he slashed through the Arabians’ defense for 308 yards on 32 carries to smash the single-game school record. Gilbert, who had touchdown runs of 63, 55 and 30 yards and another scoring run of 57 yards that was nullified by a penalty, also went over the 2,000-yard mark for his career on the biggest night of his — or any other JCHS running back’s — career.

The Patriots’ defense also came up big in its postseason opener, putting big pressure on one of the state’s leading passers in junior Kyle Tweed. Jay County, rushing just four defenders, sacked Tweed six times in the game. Tweed, despite completing 24-of-34 passes for 302 yards, including 13 connections with state-leading receiver Kody Lemond, was largely handcuffed by the JCHS defense until two quick-strike scoring drives in the fourth quarter with his team out of contention.

Jay County, which improves to 7-3 (its highest win total since 1986), will have a chance to earn a little more respect, and revenge, as it plays at Delta in a second-round game on Friday. Delta was a 41-28 winner Friday night over Connersville

Patriot coach Shane Hill, obviously pumped up as he stood at midfield seconds after time ran out, said his team — especially the defense — was motivated at what it perceived as a lack of respect.

“Every single paper, except our hometown paper, predicted we would lose,” Hill said. “The Indianapolis Star said we’d get 63 points scored on us. The defense took that personal ... our defense stepped up to the challenge and our pass rush was unbelievable,” said Hill, who will coach Friday against his high school alma mater. Hill called the predictions of doom for his defense, “locker room material.”

Jay County, which dominated the first half but managed only a 14-7 lead thanks to a pair of Gilbert scoring runs, found itself in a 14-all game heading into the fourth quarter before exploding for four touchdowns in the final period.

Patriots’ running back Steven Castillo, who went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season after gaining 52 Friday, put Jay County ahead to stay when he capped off an eight-play, 58-yard drive with a five yard run at 9:52 of the fourth quarter.

Jay County’s defense, which had given up some big passing numbers against lesser quarterbacks this season, came up big next, as Micah Enyart pulled down a tipped pass and streaked up the Jay County sideline for a 42 yard return and a 27-14 lead for the Patriots with 8:59 to play.

Pendleton Heights (5-5), which had tied the score on a 67 yard scoring run on the second play of the second half, went three-and-out on its next series, and Gilbert padded the lead — and his eye-popping stats — with a 30-yard touchdown run. That put Jay County up 34-14 and made a two-for-one exchange of late touchdowns relatively meaningless.

While it was Gilbert who came away with the fat stats, it was the Jay County offensive line, along with Castillo, that got the credit from Hill for effective blocking.

“Steven Castillo sold himself out as a blocker tonight ... The offensive line and Castillo made Justin Gilbert, and if you asked (Gilbert) he’d be the first to tell you that,” Hill said.

If Jay County’s mission in the opening quarter was to gain the respect of the host Arabians by employing a ball-control offense and dominating time of possession, it was mission accomplished. In the opening 12 minutes of play, Jay County was on offense for more than 10.

A 36-yard return of the opening kickoff by Gilbert set Jay up at its own 42, and an 11-play drive consisting entirely of runs by Gilbert and Castillo put the Patriots up 7-0, with Gilbert dashing in from 14 yards at 6:40.

That remained the score until early in the second, when Gilbert foreshadowed his big night to come by busting through at least four tackles on his way to a 63 yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

Pendleton Heights, which began to show signs of offensive live early in the second quarter, showed its quick-strike capability — and that it wouldn’t roll over — with a 54-yard touchdown drive late in the half that halved Jay County’s lead to 14-7.

Momentum was decidedly in Pendleton Heights’ favor when running back Josh Stark took a simple up-the-middle hand-off 67 yards for a touchdown to tie the game less than a minute into the second half.[[In-content Ad]]