JC to open with Giants

INDIANAPOLIS — For the second straight season, the Patriots will open sectional play against the Giants.
In the IHSAA football sectional draw Sunday, the Jay County High School football team got an opening round road game against the Marion Giants in Class 4A Sectional 20.
The winner between the Patriots (2-6) and Giants (1-7) on Oct. 24 will advance to the semifinal against the victor between Norwell (3-5) and Frankfort (2-6).
In the other opening round games, Columbia City (2-6) will play at Fort Wayne South Side (1-7), and Logansport (2-6) will host seventh-ranked and defending sectional champion New Haven (6-2).
Jay County defeated Marion 50-16 in the opening round of the tournament a year ago, before falling to Norwell the following week in the sectional semifinal.
The Patriots are 1-2 all-time against the Giants, with all three contests coming in the postseason. Marion ended Jay County’s 2008 season with a 47-33 victory, and the Giants dismantled the Patriots 56-19 in 2011.
JCHS is seeking its first sectional championship since 2007, when it went 9-4. The Patriots beat Muncie Central, New Castle and Muncie Southside en route to the championship, and then lost to Bishop Dwenger 42-14 in the regional semifinal.
South Adams (3-5) will open the Class 1A Sectional 43 tournament Oct. 24 on the road at Allen County Athletic Conference and county rival Adams Central (4-4). The winner will host Northfield (6-2) in the semifinal.
The other opening-round games will pit Southern Wells (5-3) on the road at North Miami (1-7), and Southwood (5-3) will travel to take on a winless Freemont team.
South Adams, the defending sectional champion, squandered a 14-point halftime lead and lost to Adams Central 21-14 in overtime on Sept. 26. After losing 32-22 in the regular season last year, the Starfires went on to beat the Jets 14-13 in the sectional semifinal.