Jay pounds Rockets to end regular season (10/18/03)

PORTLAND — This week Jay County was the team with the dominating ground attack. And, there was a dominating defense to go with it.

The Patriots closed the regular season with a 36-27 victory over the Indianapolis Broad Ripple Rockets on the power of 352 yards rushing — 177 by senior fullback Alex Loucks — a week after allowing 400 yards on the ground for the second straight game.

It was the second win of the year for Jay County (2-7), which will host the Connersville Spartans in first-round sectional action next week at 7 p.m. The Spartans accounted for the Patriots’ only other victory this season.

They were dominant in that contest at Connersville, and were equally so on the stat sheets against the Rockets. Broad Ripple (2-7) managed just two first downs after a quick opening scoring drive.

Known as a passing team, it finished just 6-of-20 through the air for 110 yards, running half as many offensive plays as the Patriots.

“One thing we used for motivation was a lot of people were talking about us being soft on defense,” said Jay County coach Shane Hill. “We challenged our kids to squash those rumors. They rose to the challenge.”

After a 71-yard opening scoring drive put them in a 6-0 hole, the rest of the game — with the exception of two 80-plus-yard kickoff returns — belonged entirely to the Patriots.

Jay County answered with a scoring drive of its own, going 89 yards on 12 plays. Nearly half of those yards came on a 42-yard screen pass from Cory Locke to Loucks, and Locke finished the drive on a 10-yard scramble for a score.

Trent Bailey’s extra point gave the Patriots a 7-6 lead, and they would never trail again.

Locke scored on a 12-yard option left after a flurry of turnovers four minutes into the second quarter, and Loucks capped a nine-play, 73-yard drive with a 2-yard scoring run with 2:28 to play in the half.

An 85-yard kick return by Jasmond Jones on the ensuing kick cut the Rockets’ deficit to 21-12 at halftime, but Loucks bumped the lead up to 17 points with a 5-yard run late in the third quarter. Jay County then survived the Broad Ripple rally try in the final period.

“The first drive of the game they came out in something we weren’t ready for,” said Hill, whose team allowed 71 rushing yards on the opening drive and then just three the rest of the game. “They’d been throwing the ball about 90 percent of the time. We had to make adjustments. Obviously the adjustments we made and the players made worked great.”

The Rockets pulled within 10 points with a John Melind 12-yard touchdown pass to Sammie Lee on the first play of the fourth quarter. Five minutes later they still trailed 29-19 when Justin Gilbert quite possibly saved the game for Jay County.

Melind hit Desmond Jones on a crossing route and he broke down the left sideline for what looked like a sure touchdown. But Gilbert caught him from behind at the 12-yard line and the drive eventually ended on a missed Broad Ripple field goal.

Gilbert’s big tackle came after he had ended the Rockets previous drive on an interception. David Stith put the game away for good on the next Broad Ripple drive, picking up a Melind fumble and taking it in two yards for the score.

“They were fast,” said Gilbert of the Rocket receivers. “I didn’t know if I was (going to catch him). I ran my hardest and caught up to him and got him.”

Joining Loucks with his second 100-yard game of the year was Steven Castillo. He ran 20 times for 107 yards before giving way to Gilbert’s fresh legs.

Locke completed three passes for 76 yards, and Castillo was 1-of-2 on halfback option tries for 34 yards. Loucks had two receptions for 45 yards.

Loucks and Locke both said they hoped the win leads to an extended postseason.

“This gets us going big time for sectional,” said Locke. “We needed a win bad. Our seniors stepped up big tonight.”

Added Loucks: “A new season starts next week. We’re 0-0. (This win) is a real confidence booster. Hopefully we’ll carry it through to next week.”[[In-content Ad]]