July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
JC gets 1st win in OAC opener (09/09/06)
JCHS football
By By RAY COONEY-
ANDERSON - Go without eating a steak for a long period of time and you might forget how good it tastes. The same is true of winning.
"I told them, 'You've got the taste of victory now on your lips,'" said Jay County football coach Shane Hill. "It's something that had avoided us for three weeks. I think success brings success. When you start to win, you like the feeling of winning. You like getting in the locker room and riding the bus home. And we're going to feel that on the way home tonight."
The Patriots suffered three consecutive losses to open the 2006 season, but put an end to the skid Friday by opening Olympic Athletic Conference play with a 14-12 victory over the host Anderson Highland Scots.
Jay County (1-3) used one big play, made one big punt return count and took advantage of the Scots' conversion failures to pick up its first win.
With a one-touchdown lead, the Patriots were in much the same place as last week when Franklin County scored 20 points against them in the second half for a 20-6 win. Anderson Highland mounted a comeback, but Jay County did enough good things after the intermission to hold on.
Following several failed possessions by both teams, Justin Mann broke free for a 30-yard punt return to give the Patriots the ball near midfield. Corey Comer followed with a 20 yard run over the right side, and three plays later Michael Jobe added a 23-yard run up the middle to set up first-and-goal at the 3-yard line.
Comer picked up a pair of yards on first down, and Billy Wellman cruised to the end zone on a naked bootleg on the next play. Kaleb Carpenter's kick gave Jay County a 14-0 lead.
Highland benefited from a couple of Patriot penalties and marched down the field on their next possession, but Aaron McGuire's kick missed wide right. When the Scots scored again on a 17-yard scramble by quarterback Nick Goins in the fourth quarter, they were forced to go for the two-point conversion and the tie. The pass attempt was no good, and Jay County ran just enough time off the clock on their final possession to secure the victory.
Coach Randy Albano said his Scots' missed extra point hurt, but "that didn't lose us the game. We just didn't play very well. We're just not a very good tackling football team. We missed way too many tackles, and we're not going to beat many people if we don't start tackling.
"We knew they were going to run and we couldn't stop them until there was about 58 seconds left."
Emblematic of the tacking problems was Jay County's first scoring play in the second quarter. Wellman found fullback Lance Franklin out of the backfield on a short pass to the left side, and Franklin broke several tackles before out-running the rest of the defense for a 66-yard score.
The game marked Franklin's first action of the season at fullback, splitting time with Comer.
"Lance Franklin, what can you say about Lance Franklin," said Hill. "He came out of nowhere.
"Corey is a huge player for us on both sides of the ball, and in order for him to be a force he's got to play at 100 percent. ... We had to find a kid that could come in when Corey needed to be spelled. We tried a few people out and Lance Franklin just emerged from the pack as being that guy, and boy he showed what he can do with the football."
Jobe also had a big game, turning in the first 100-yard rushing effort of the season for the Patriots. He carried 23 times for 131 yards, and Comer added 47 yards on 10 carries.
Wellman completed four passes for 108 yards, including the touchdown strike to Franklin.
Goins went to the air often for Highland, completing 14 of his 33 attempts for 141 yards.
The Scots had repeated opportunities to score, including good field position after a pair of Jay County fumbles, but failed to get the job done.
"That's been our story for the last three games," said Albano, whose team has lost three in a row since an opening win over cross-town rival Anderson. "We've had our chances."
"The last three games have been that way. We've had opportunities to win the football game, but we don't do it."
The Patriots limited Highland to barely three yards per carry, with Nathan Walters taking the ball 13 times for 43 yards. Goins was the Scots' most effective rusher, carrying five times for 34 yards.[[In-content Ad]]
"I told them, 'You've got the taste of victory now on your lips,'" said Jay County football coach Shane Hill. "It's something that had avoided us for three weeks. I think success brings success. When you start to win, you like the feeling of winning. You like getting in the locker room and riding the bus home. And we're going to feel that on the way home tonight."
The Patriots suffered three consecutive losses to open the 2006 season, but put an end to the skid Friday by opening Olympic Athletic Conference play with a 14-12 victory over the host Anderson Highland Scots.
Jay County (1-3) used one big play, made one big punt return count and took advantage of the Scots' conversion failures to pick up its first win.
With a one-touchdown lead, the Patriots were in much the same place as last week when Franklin County scored 20 points against them in the second half for a 20-6 win. Anderson Highland mounted a comeback, but Jay County did enough good things after the intermission to hold on.
Following several failed possessions by both teams, Justin Mann broke free for a 30-yard punt return to give the Patriots the ball near midfield. Corey Comer followed with a 20 yard run over the right side, and three plays later Michael Jobe added a 23-yard run up the middle to set up first-and-goal at the 3-yard line.
Comer picked up a pair of yards on first down, and Billy Wellman cruised to the end zone on a naked bootleg on the next play. Kaleb Carpenter's kick gave Jay County a 14-0 lead.
Highland benefited from a couple of Patriot penalties and marched down the field on their next possession, but Aaron McGuire's kick missed wide right. When the Scots scored again on a 17-yard scramble by quarterback Nick Goins in the fourth quarter, they were forced to go for the two-point conversion and the tie. The pass attempt was no good, and Jay County ran just enough time off the clock on their final possession to secure the victory.
Coach Randy Albano said his Scots' missed extra point hurt, but "that didn't lose us the game. We just didn't play very well. We're just not a very good tackling football team. We missed way too many tackles, and we're not going to beat many people if we don't start tackling.
"We knew they were going to run and we couldn't stop them until there was about 58 seconds left."
Emblematic of the tacking problems was Jay County's first scoring play in the second quarter. Wellman found fullback Lance Franklin out of the backfield on a short pass to the left side, and Franklin broke several tackles before out-running the rest of the defense for a 66-yard score.
The game marked Franklin's first action of the season at fullback, splitting time with Comer.
"Lance Franklin, what can you say about Lance Franklin," said Hill. "He came out of nowhere.
"Corey is a huge player for us on both sides of the ball, and in order for him to be a force he's got to play at 100 percent. ... We had to find a kid that could come in when Corey needed to be spelled. We tried a few people out and Lance Franklin just emerged from the pack as being that guy, and boy he showed what he can do with the football."
Jobe also had a big game, turning in the first 100-yard rushing effort of the season for the Patriots. He carried 23 times for 131 yards, and Comer added 47 yards on 10 carries.
Wellman completed four passes for 108 yards, including the touchdown strike to Franklin.
Goins went to the air often for Highland, completing 14 of his 33 attempts for 141 yards.
The Scots had repeated opportunities to score, including good field position after a pair of Jay County fumbles, but failed to get the job done.
"That's been our story for the last three games," said Albano, whose team has lost three in a row since an opening win over cross-town rival Anderson. "We've had our chances."
"The last three games have been that way. We've had opportunities to win the football game, but we don't do it."
The Patriots limited Highland to barely three yards per carry, with Nathan Walters taking the ball 13 times for 43 yards. Goins was the Scots' most effective rusher, carrying five times for 34 yards.[[In-content Ad]]
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