July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Wave crushes JC (10/11/2008)
JCHS football
Wave crushes JC (10/11/2008)
By By RAY COONEY-
GREENVILLE, Ohio - A week ago, Zach Melling broke Greenville's all-time rushing record. Against the Patriots Friday night he took care of the single-game mark.
Melling racked up nearly 300 rushing yards and scored all of the host Green Wave's touchdowns in a 53-20 high school football victory over Jay County.
"He just refuses to stop," said Greenville coach T.J. Powers. "He refuses to quit. He keeps his legs churning.
"I'm speechless. The offensive line did a great job. ... It was a total team effort."
Melling was a one-man tidal wave for Greenville, running the ball 32 times for 296 yards. He had more than 400 all-purpose yards thanks to punts returns and an 80-yard kickoff return that set up the Green Wave at the Patriots' 5-yard line.
He scored on touchdowns of 1, 2, 3, 6, 13, 50 and 72 yards, setting a Greenville record for TDs in a single game. He is just the 17th player in Ohio history to run for seven or more touchdowns in one game, which is one short of the state record.
"Last week when we came down and scouted them (Melling) broke the career rushing record for the school," said JCHS coach Shane Hill, whose team dropped to 3-5. "So we knew going in that he was the workhorse. ...
"And then it's just a matter of them saying, 'Ok. Here it is. Can you stop us.' And our answer was 'no.' We couldn't."
The huge effort from Melling led the Green Wave (6-2) to 476 total yards of offense, 459 of which came on the ground. Freshman quarterback Jacob Burk also had a big rushing day, keeping the ball 15 times for 139 yards.
Burk, who took over the starting job after his brother Adam suffered a season-ending knee injury Sept. 2, completed both of his passing attempts to Chris Lockhart for 17 yards.
"He's not a freshman anymore," said Powers. "He's come a long way."
After Melling scored on his 72-yard run on the second play from scrimmage, Jay County moved quickly back down the field. The Patriots evened the score on a 4-yard run by quarterback Billy Wellman.
And even after Melling nearly returned the ensuing kickoff for a TD, JCHS came up big to reclaim possession thanks to a fumble. But the remainder of the first half belonged to the home team.
Wellman was flagged for intentional grounding in his own end zone, resulting in a safety, and Melling capped the next Green Wave drive with a 21-yard TD run. Each of the next two Patriot possessions ended on interceptions, leading to a 34-yard field goal from Adam List and another scoring run by Melling. And the two JCHS drives after that ended in punts while Greenville got two more scoring runs from Melling, including the 50-yarder with just 23 seconds left in the first half.
The 33 consecutive points by the Green Wave gave it a 40-7 lead at halftime, and each team scored one TD in each of the final two quarters.
"We physically just got dominated," Hill said. "We just physically up front got dominated for four quarters. And we just never responded. ... The bottom line is they just wanted it more than we did tonight and we've got to figure out how we can change that."
Wellman took care of most of the Patriot offense through the air as the running game struggled to just three yards per carry. He completed 15-of-23 passes for 216 yards, including a 61-yard bomb down the left sideline to Dexter Shreve for a fourth-quarter TD.
Shreve caught five passes for 87 yards, and Adam Garringer had three receptions for 54 yards.
Hill complimented his team for playing the Green Wave even in the second half and not giving up. Now the Patriots look forward to a long trip Friday to Mishawaka Marian, their final preparation before heading into sectional play Oct. 24 against Marion.
"I think the first thing is, we've got to win," said Hill of the regular-season finale. "You can't go in (to sectional) on a two-game losing streak. ... Number two, we've got to come out and we've got to click.
"We're going to have mistakes ... but we're going to have to limit those mistakes. But we're going to have to control them on both sides of the football and gain some confidence that we can do this thing."
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Melling racked up nearly 300 rushing yards and scored all of the host Green Wave's touchdowns in a 53-20 high school football victory over Jay County.
"He just refuses to stop," said Greenville coach T.J. Powers. "He refuses to quit. He keeps his legs churning.
"I'm speechless. The offensive line did a great job. ... It was a total team effort."
Melling was a one-man tidal wave for Greenville, running the ball 32 times for 296 yards. He had more than 400 all-purpose yards thanks to punts returns and an 80-yard kickoff return that set up the Green Wave at the Patriots' 5-yard line.
He scored on touchdowns of 1, 2, 3, 6, 13, 50 and 72 yards, setting a Greenville record for TDs in a single game. He is just the 17th player in Ohio history to run for seven or more touchdowns in one game, which is one short of the state record.
"Last week when we came down and scouted them (Melling) broke the career rushing record for the school," said JCHS coach Shane Hill, whose team dropped to 3-5. "So we knew going in that he was the workhorse. ...
"And then it's just a matter of them saying, 'Ok. Here it is. Can you stop us.' And our answer was 'no.' We couldn't."
The huge effort from Melling led the Green Wave (6-2) to 476 total yards of offense, 459 of which came on the ground. Freshman quarterback Jacob Burk also had a big rushing day, keeping the ball 15 times for 139 yards.
Burk, who took over the starting job after his brother Adam suffered a season-ending knee injury Sept. 2, completed both of his passing attempts to Chris Lockhart for 17 yards.
"He's not a freshman anymore," said Powers. "He's come a long way."
After Melling scored on his 72-yard run on the second play from scrimmage, Jay County moved quickly back down the field. The Patriots evened the score on a 4-yard run by quarterback Billy Wellman.
And even after Melling nearly returned the ensuing kickoff for a TD, JCHS came up big to reclaim possession thanks to a fumble. But the remainder of the first half belonged to the home team.
Wellman was flagged for intentional grounding in his own end zone, resulting in a safety, and Melling capped the next Green Wave drive with a 21-yard TD run. Each of the next two Patriot possessions ended on interceptions, leading to a 34-yard field goal from Adam List and another scoring run by Melling. And the two JCHS drives after that ended in punts while Greenville got two more scoring runs from Melling, including the 50-yarder with just 23 seconds left in the first half.
The 33 consecutive points by the Green Wave gave it a 40-7 lead at halftime, and each team scored one TD in each of the final two quarters.
"We physically just got dominated," Hill said. "We just physically up front got dominated for four quarters. And we just never responded. ... The bottom line is they just wanted it more than we did tonight and we've got to figure out how we can change that."
Wellman took care of most of the Patriot offense through the air as the running game struggled to just three yards per carry. He completed 15-of-23 passes for 216 yards, including a 61-yard bomb down the left sideline to Dexter Shreve for a fourth-quarter TD.
Shreve caught five passes for 87 yards, and Adam Garringer had three receptions for 54 yards.
Hill complimented his team for playing the Green Wave even in the second half and not giving up. Now the Patriots look forward to a long trip Friday to Mishawaka Marian, their final preparation before heading into sectional play Oct. 24 against Marion.
"I think the first thing is, we've got to win," said Hill of the regular-season finale. "You can't go in (to sectional) on a two-game losing streak. ... Number two, we've got to come out and we've got to click.
"We're going to have mistakes ... but we're going to have to limit those mistakes. But we're going to have to control them on both sides of the football and gain some confidence that we can do this thing."
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