Squeaker gives Patriots OAC title (09/24/05)

CONNERSVILLE — They did it by the skin of their teeth.

Jay County secured its second Olympic Athletic Conference title in four years Friday night, but not without a challenge from a team hungry for a victory.

The visiting Patriots allowed a winless Connersville Spartan team to hang around and had to stop a two-point conversion try late in the fourth quarter to escape with a 14-13 victory.

Despite the tight score, JCHS coach Shane Hill was happy to secure just the second OAC title in school history.

“I’m ecstatic,” he said. “I told the kids there at midfield. It wasn’t pretty. There were some things I would’ve liked to have seen done differently, but I’m going to put on a smile and I’m going to enjoy this one. We have a lot to be proud of.”

The game was still in doubt in the closing minutes despite a 2-to-1 advantage for Jay County in total yards.

With one last chance the Spartans (0-6) moved the ball all the way to the Patriot 25-yard line, converting three third downs in the process. A fourth-down pass was incomplete, but a Jay County lineman was called for a swat to the head to extend the drive with just 2:30 remaining. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the coaching staff moved the ball to the 8-yard line.

Connersville scored three plays later on a 1-yard dive by Jamie Taylor. The touchdown run, which capped a 17-play, 60-yard drive, left Spartan coach Scott Snodgrass with a big decision.

“It was a gutsy call by coach Snodgrass,” said Hill, recalling his team’s victory over Anderson Highland on an all-or-nothing two-point try. “I was there two weeks ago and made the same exact call to go for the win. I know what he was feeling.”

Snodgrass decided to go for the 2-point conversion, but his go-for-the-gusto call did not pan out.

Taylor, who led the Spartans with 92 yards on 16 carries, took the ball on a sweep to the left side but was stopped before even sniffing the goal line. The Jay County defense tackled him at the 5-yard line, the ensuing onside kick went out of bounds and the Patriot offense was able to get a first down to run out the clock.

“We were moving the ball,” said Snodgrass of why he went for the win instead of the tie and a chance at overtime. “We knew where we wanted to put the football. We wanted to put it on the perimeter. We just cut the play up a little early looking for a few blocks up the middle and we didn’t get them.”

It marked the second straight season in which Jay County scored a one-point win over Connersville following last year’s 21-20 victory. That game came down to the final play when Cory Locke hit Ben Freeman with a touchdown pass as time expired.

Snodgrass praised his players’ effort after the second consecutive one-point loss to the Patriots.

“The kids gave us everything they had,” said Snodgrass, whose team also fell by one point last week to Prairie Heights. “That’s all we can ask for. I’m proud of them.

“When you’re 0-5 it’s easy to let games like this not be very close. These guys came out to fight and they came out and did what we asked them to do. It was a good game.”

Jay County, which at 4-2 will try to secure just its second winning season since 1988 when it hosts Winchester next week, dominated the statistical battle.

Running backs Justin Gilbert and Steven Castillo were both over 100 yards in the first half and finished with 188 and 151 yards respectively. The Patriots gained 385 yards in all, compared to just 204 for Connersville.

However, Jay County had problems putting the ball in the end zone after Gilbert scored on the opening drive. Connersville answered with a 52-yard touchdown pass from Josh Jarboe to Brandon Kidd on their next possession.

The Patriots fumbled the ball at the Connersville 25-yard line on their next possession, and gave up the ball on downs after reaching the Connersville 10-yard line on their third try with the ball. They finally got in the end zone again on a 16-yard run by Castillo with just 19 seconds to play in the opening half for a 14-7 lead.

That score remained in tact until Taylor’s late score followed by the missed two-point try. “Obviously we would have liked for it to be a little bit more decisive,” said Hill. “There are some things we could’ve done to make it that way. We’ve got to execute a little bit better ... to sustain some drives.”

The Patriots also had penalty problems, getting flagged 11 times for a total of 88 yards.

“We didn’t play a very smart football game,” Hill added. “We reacted to some of the things that they were doing out there ... We told them it was going to be a physical football game. ... You’ve got to just play football. We’ve got to clean that up.”[[In-content Ad]]