Scots blank Jay Co. (09/08/07)

By the time the fourth quarter came around, the defense was exhausted. Again.

The Jay County High School football team struggled to move the ball again, getting just one first down on its first four possessions and 159 total yards for the game. The visiting Anderson Highland Scots, who had just one big play before ripping off a game-sealing, grind-it-out drive in the fourth quarter, took advantage for a 17-0 victory.

"I don't know what the answer is, but I definitely know we need to find it on the offensive side of the ball and figure out why it is we stall out on drives," said JCHS coach Shane Hill, whose team had five three-and-outs and failed to score in its two trips to the red zone. "I think if we get that fixed we definitely have one aspect of our football team playing really well. If we could get the other half of our team playing the way the defense is playing we're going to be a tough team to beat."

While the Patriot offense struggled, Highland (4-0, 1-0 Olympic Athletic Conference) didn't do much better.

The Scots had one big play in the first half - a 34-yard fade down the right sideline from quarterback Kaleb Ogden to receiver Austin Teder for a touchdown. And, that drive started on the 35-yard line following a short punt after Jay County was pinned deep in its own territory.

Highland's other three first half points came after another bad snap on a punt - the Patriots had a similar play in the season opener against Delta - set it up at the 6-yard line. Jay County's defense held, but Eramus Warner booted a 25-yard field goal.

Then, with the lead in hand, the Scots went to the running game when they took possession with 49 seconds on the clock in the third quarter. Highland ran the ball on 14 consecutive plays - the longest was a 23-yard bounce to the outside by Jordon Segner - for a 71-yard drive that lasted 7:09 and was capped by a 2-yard touchdown dive by Ogden.

"We couldn't throw the ball very well, Caleb (Ogden) wasn't really on, so we decided to run at them on the left side of the line," said Scots coach Randy Albano, noting the blocking efforts up front from Kevin Starkey, Travis Gladney and tight end Jordan Worley. "We thought we might get outside on them and we couldn't do that and they dominated us in the third quarter, and then our kids rebounded and did a nice job ... in the fourth quarter."

Nathan Walters carried the rushing load for HHS with 19 carries for 86 yards. Ogden completed eight passes for 116 yards, including three to Teders for 91 yards, with all of his positive yardage coming in the first half.

Highland's defense turned in its second straight shutout - it defeated Owen Valley 42-0 last week - after giving up 20-plus points in each of its first two games. The Patriots were inside the 20-yard line in the second quarter before getting knocked back with a holding penalty, and were there in again in the third only to have a fourth-down pass fall in complete.

"Our defense played really well," said Albano. "They were tough inside the 20, and that's something we haven't had for a while.

"Jay County's the defending (OAC) champions, and it's nice to beat them. They beat us by two points last year and in double overtime two years ago here ... We felt like we needed to play a good football game to beat them. They're a good football team."

The Scots' defense also got some help from Jay County (2-2), which had difficulty hanging on to passes.

Quarterback Billy Wellman completed just 8-of-23 attempts for 63 yards, but at least half of those imcompletions were drops.

"The first eight I believe hit hands of our guys and fell to the turf," said Hill.

Andrew Lancaster led the defense with eight tackles, safeties Michael Jobe and Clint Muhlenkamp each had seven and Kyle Cook finished with four tackles, including a pair of sacks.

On the plus side for the offense, Jay County found some success in its ground game. Sam Lyons picked up 77 yards on 17 attempts, three of which went for 10 yards or more.

"We concentrated on getting our line fixed and I think they did an excellent job tonight," said Hill. "Coming off a couple weeks where we relied on some big plays for some scores, the offensive line I think really played a great game."

However, there was also one, big negative as the Patriots' second-to-last drive ended in an interception, and the loss of their top offensive player.

Kyle Stewart picked off Wellman's pass attempt at the goal line and returned the ball out to the 27-yard line. There was a skirmish at the end of the play, and as players were separated JCHS senior Justin Mann removed his helmet and threw it to the ground.

After a discussion amongst the officials both teams were assessed unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and Mann, who was among the best in the state with 15 receptions for 310 yards and four TDs in the opening three games of the season, was ejected. By IHSAA rule he will also be suspended for Jay County's next game, which is at Muncie Southside Friday.[[In-content Ad]]