Sweet November for Jay Co. (10/27/07)

NEW CASTLE - The Patriots are coming home ... to play football ... in November.

A blocked punt highlighted an outstanding defensive effort in the second half Friday night as the Jay County High School football team fought off the New Castle Trojans for a 23-16 victory in Class 4A Sectional 12 semifinal action. With the win, JCHS advanced to the sectional finals for the first time since 2000 and just the third time in school history.

Playing football on Nov. 2 (the team had lost four sectional semifinal games in the last five seasons) has been a goal for the Patriots since long before the season even began.

"We've always focused on a (Olympic Athletic Conference) title," said Jay County coach Shane Hill, who is in his sixth season. "We've always focused on a winning season. We've focused on playing well when we get to the tournament. But we've never put a carrot out in front of the guys to say, "Hey, look, we're not going to be happy or satisfied unless we're playing in this game on this date.' ...

"It's been a big motivation for us. It's just great to be able to participate in a game like that ... It's going to be a fun atmosphere."

Jay County, which at 8-3 now has the most wins since going 8-2 in 1982, has the chance to play for another week thanks to a scoreless second half and a special teams play that changed the game.

New Castle (4-7) was sputtering offensively facing a three-and-out for the second straight drive to open the second half, but it still held a 16-13 lead on a sloppy field that was going to make it difficult for either team to move the ball. But as the Trojans tried to punt the ball midway through the third quarter, Jay County senior Kyle Cook came surging through the line and blocked the kick cleanly.

The ball skidded toward the end zone with Cook in pursuit, and as he tried the pick it up at the 2-yard line it went flying in the air toward the back of the end zone. Cook and teammate Andrew Lancaster tried to fall on it, but were beaten to the punch by New Castle's Kyle McAllister who made the recovery for a safety.

Despite missing out on the chance for six points rather than two, the damage was done. The safety pulled the Patriots within a point, re-energized the soggy fans and set up the JCHS offense in excellent field position.

"It's a momentum swing ..." said Hill. "It is a game-changer, it is a momentum changer. Our crowd got back into the game. Our defense was fired up. Our offense realized that we were going to get good field position after their free kick."

Bryce DeBoy returned New Castle's free kick nearly 30 yards to give the Patriots the ball just 32 yards from the end zone and the potential tying score. Just over two minutes later, Michael Jobe capped a drive of all running plays with a 7-yard TD run that would be final score of the game.

Jobe, who also tacked on the two-point conversion, carried the load for the Patriots. He ran the ball 28 times for 137 yards, including 20 carries for 100 yards in the second half.

"We put it in his hands. We put it on the offensive linemen's back and we put it on the senior running back," said Hill, noting how difficult the wet conditions made it to move the ball through the air. "We took our shots early, before the field got really torn up, and then it was just a matter of doing what we can do and hanging on."

One big change helped the Patriots grind out the win. They most often used a three-back set with Alan Brown and Lance Franklin in front blocking for Jobe instead of their usual one-back, shotgun formation.

"Last year we weren't ready to play a game in this type of situation," said Hill, whose team lost 6-0 to Muncie Central in the 2006 sectional semifinal round with similarly sloppy conditions. "We made an adjustment this week. We've played the jumbo before, but we really worked on it this week knowing what the weather could have been like."

Jay County did get one big pass play early as Billy Wellman found Brandon Reynard for a 49-yard touchdown pass midway through the first quarter. However, that was one of only three completions for the Patriots on the evening.

The rest of the game was left up to the rushing attack - 38 carries for 215 yards overall - and defense.

After allowing more than 200 yards of total offense and two TDs in the opening half, the JCHS defense kept New Castle scoreless in the second. The Trojans' vaunted running attack was held to just 45 yards on its 18 rushes after the intermission.

And on New Castle's final desperation play from the Jay County 33-yard line with seven seconds left, Cook and Brown never gave quarterback Dewanze Williams a chance to make a play. They crashed the left side of the Trojans' offensive line and combined to toss Williams down for an emphatic, game-ending sack.

"Our kids just played better," said Hill of the defensive turn-around in the final 24 minutes. "We called the same defensive schemes, the same blitzes, the same coverages ... we just played our assignments and played disciplined and played fundamental football just a little bit better in the second half than in the first."

It was mostly Williams who gave the Patriots trouble in the opening half.

The quarterback ran in New Castle's first touchdown on a 45-yard option on the second-to-last play of the first quarter. Then his 32-yard pass down the sideline to Korey Kaiser set up Andre Turner's 5-yard scoring run early in the second.

Two-point conversions after each score gave the Trojans a lead they would hold until the blocked punt, safety and ensuing touchdown gave Jay County the game in the third quarter.

Overall, Williams recorded runs of 45, 27 and 23 yards on the way to 111 yards on 10 carries. He was also 10-of-18 passing for 129 yards, but was intercepted by Aaron Daniels at the 2-yard line to end New Castle's best chance at tying the game in the fourth quarter.

"He was really good at reading the option," said Hill, noting that Williams was converted to quarterback after playing wide receiver last season. "That's amazing to me how well he did that. ... He played a great game."

But despite Williams' effort, it's Jay County that advances to play another game. And it will come against an opponent it may not have expected.

Muncie Southside, which lost 27-7 to Delta in the regular-season, stunned the visiting Class 3A No. 9 Eagles 38-20 in Friday's other semifinal contest.

Southside is now 7-4 and has won five straight games. Delta finished at 9-2 after opening the season with eight straight victories.

The Patriots and Rebels, both members of the Olympic Athletic Conference, played a classic game in their first meeting this season, with Jay County scoring a 27-25 win when Reynard caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Wellman with just 5.9 seconds on the clock. The teams, who combined for five fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a pair in the final 45 seconds of that game, will play at Harold E. Schutz Stadium for the sectional title Friday at 7 p.m.

Southside has not played for a sectional title since falling 36-6 to Muncie Central in 2003, and last won a crown in 1999. Jay County has never won a sectional championship.

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