July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Jay's future seems bright (11/02/07)
By By RAY COONEY-
Tonight when the Jay County High School football team takes the field, it will look to make history.
A victory would tie the school record for wins in a single season (nine), and mark the first sectional championship in Patriot history. And while JCHS fans consider the 2007 team's place in comparison to teams past, the future is also seems quite bright.
While middle school results are often not the best guage of high school performance for a variety of reasons, excitement can be justified after the seasons the Jay County seventh grade teams put together.
East Jay Middle School finished a perfect 8-0, with seven of those wins coming by two or more touchdowns. West Jay Middle School went 6-1, with all of its six wins by 14 or more points.
The lone loss among the two squads came when they squared off against each other Oct. 9 at JCHS when Chiefs held off the Eagles 20-16.
"The coaches (at East Jay and West Jay) have been doing an excellent job," said Jay County High School coach Shane Hill. "One thing that has really helped us out is that we've had some consistent coaching at the middle school level. ...
"That's huge, because the kids get to know them. They get to know the kids in the building. They start recruiting the building ... They've just done an outstanding job of teaching them the game of football."
There's no arguing with the results.
East Jay opened with a 32-8 slaughter of New Castle and proceeded to put up 30 or more points in each of its first four games. It added wins of 26-6 over Muncie Northside, the only team it trailed to thanks to a return of the opening kickoff, and 32-6 over Winchester before edging West Jay.
It closed the season with a 14-0 shutout of Blackford.
"They have a dedication, loyalty and commitment to it as a team," said Jack Houck, who coaches East Jay along with Michael Hunt and Eric Butcher. "Some of the kids obviously didn't play a lot, but they're staying with it and practicing hard every night. It's just the whole atmosphere of that class ..."
All three coaches also heaped credit on quarterback and leader Brock McFarland.
"He just wants to win so bad, and he has the athletic ability and talent to get it done," said Houck. "I think that's the type of competitive spirit you see in someone who is going to excel ... He's got the drive and desire and then he's also got the ability to back that up."
West Jay was similarly dominant, crushing Winchester 34-6 in its opener and then trampling Wes-Del 39-0 for its widest margin of victory. It added wins over New Castle, Blackford, Union City and Salamonie, scoring at least 29 points five times.
"It was about the team winning," said James Myers, one of West Jay's coaches along with James Roberts. "The goal was to be undefeated and that's what we strived for every day in practice and when we played. They tried to achieve their goal, and I think that's what kept them focused throughout the year."
The Eagles also looked to their quarterback, Tyler Back, who finished with six passing touchdowns and four rushing touchdowns this year.
"He was actually supposed to play receiver for us, but Blake Crouch got hurt," said Myers of his quarterback situation. "He's a quiet kid in class and on the field. I think kids respect him.
"They're just tough-nosed kids that like hitting people and scoring touchdowns."
With both teams sporting undefeated records - and after they had tied 6-6 at the East Jay Jamboree to open the season - the intra-county showdown at Harold E. Schutz Stadium was highly anticipated.
The Chiefs took a 14-0 halftime lead as McFarland connected with Kegan Comer on a pair of touchdown passes. McFarland added an interception return for a TD in the fourth quarter, but West Jay refused to go away.
The Eagles, who got 10 TDs from Luke Wiemer this year, scored their two touchdowns on a pair of long runs in the final three minutes, and picked up two-point conversions after both for the final margin.
"They were really disciplined," said Myers of the East Jay squad. "They got us into a lot of long situations during that game. And offensively that first quarter they ate up the whole clock. ... Their ball control was excellent. They imposed their will on us basically in the first half."
The Chief coaches were similarly impressed with West Jay.
"Again, they've got a leader in Tyler Back," said Houck. "They've got an excellent team, excellent athletes. ... You put those guys together in a couple of years and holy cow."
The prospect of melding the two squads together at JCHS in a couple of years is reason for excitement. But with all of the success on the field, the coaches were even more excited about the dedication their players - 35 for East Jay and 24 for West Jay - have shown in the classroom.
Looking toward the future, Hill couldn't agree more.
"This is a talented group. Both seventh grade classes are athletic and fast and big and play well together. But the thing I like the most about them is they are good students," he said. "They do it well in the classroom as well as in the hallways. That's a good formula for success.
"When you get a feeling of winning, you want to win that much worse. I'm glad to see that we've got a winning aspect coming. ... Success breeds success."
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A victory would tie the school record for wins in a single season (nine), and mark the first sectional championship in Patriot history. And while JCHS fans consider the 2007 team's place in comparison to teams past, the future is also seems quite bright.
While middle school results are often not the best guage of high school performance for a variety of reasons, excitement can be justified after the seasons the Jay County seventh grade teams put together.
East Jay Middle School finished a perfect 8-0, with seven of those wins coming by two or more touchdowns. West Jay Middle School went 6-1, with all of its six wins by 14 or more points.
The lone loss among the two squads came when they squared off against each other Oct. 9 at JCHS when Chiefs held off the Eagles 20-16.
"The coaches (at East Jay and West Jay) have been doing an excellent job," said Jay County High School coach Shane Hill. "One thing that has really helped us out is that we've had some consistent coaching at the middle school level. ...
"That's huge, because the kids get to know them. They get to know the kids in the building. They start recruiting the building ... They've just done an outstanding job of teaching them the game of football."
There's no arguing with the results.
East Jay opened with a 32-8 slaughter of New Castle and proceeded to put up 30 or more points in each of its first four games. It added wins of 26-6 over Muncie Northside, the only team it trailed to thanks to a return of the opening kickoff, and 32-6 over Winchester before edging West Jay.
It closed the season with a 14-0 shutout of Blackford.
"They have a dedication, loyalty and commitment to it as a team," said Jack Houck, who coaches East Jay along with Michael Hunt and Eric Butcher. "Some of the kids obviously didn't play a lot, but they're staying with it and practicing hard every night. It's just the whole atmosphere of that class ..."
All three coaches also heaped credit on quarterback and leader Brock McFarland.
"He just wants to win so bad, and he has the athletic ability and talent to get it done," said Houck. "I think that's the type of competitive spirit you see in someone who is going to excel ... He's got the drive and desire and then he's also got the ability to back that up."
West Jay was similarly dominant, crushing Winchester 34-6 in its opener and then trampling Wes-Del 39-0 for its widest margin of victory. It added wins over New Castle, Blackford, Union City and Salamonie, scoring at least 29 points five times.
"It was about the team winning," said James Myers, one of West Jay's coaches along with James Roberts. "The goal was to be undefeated and that's what we strived for every day in practice and when we played. They tried to achieve their goal, and I think that's what kept them focused throughout the year."
The Eagles also looked to their quarterback, Tyler Back, who finished with six passing touchdowns and four rushing touchdowns this year.
"He was actually supposed to play receiver for us, but Blake Crouch got hurt," said Myers of his quarterback situation. "He's a quiet kid in class and on the field. I think kids respect him.
"They're just tough-nosed kids that like hitting people and scoring touchdowns."
With both teams sporting undefeated records - and after they had tied 6-6 at the East Jay Jamboree to open the season - the intra-county showdown at Harold E. Schutz Stadium was highly anticipated.
The Chiefs took a 14-0 halftime lead as McFarland connected with Kegan Comer on a pair of touchdown passes. McFarland added an interception return for a TD in the fourth quarter, but West Jay refused to go away.
The Eagles, who got 10 TDs from Luke Wiemer this year, scored their two touchdowns on a pair of long runs in the final three minutes, and picked up two-point conversions after both for the final margin.
"They were really disciplined," said Myers of the East Jay squad. "They got us into a lot of long situations during that game. And offensively that first quarter they ate up the whole clock. ... Their ball control was excellent. They imposed their will on us basically in the first half."
The Chief coaches were similarly impressed with West Jay.
"Again, they've got a leader in Tyler Back," said Houck. "They've got an excellent team, excellent athletes. ... You put those guys together in a couple of years and holy cow."
The prospect of melding the two squads together at JCHS in a couple of years is reason for excitement. But with all of the success on the field, the coaches were even more excited about the dedication their players - 35 for East Jay and 24 for West Jay - have shown in the classroom.
Looking toward the future, Hill couldn't agree more.
"This is a talented group. Both seventh grade classes are athletic and fast and big and play well together. But the thing I like the most about them is they are good students," he said. "They do it well in the classroom as well as in the hallways. That's a good formula for success.
"When you get a feeling of winning, you want to win that much worse. I'm glad to see that we've got a winning aspect coming. ... Success breeds success."
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