Over in the opener

MARION — By the time the Jay County offense started moving the football, it was already too late.
Marion scored 21 points in the first half on three Jay County turnovers, and its defense held strong in the second half to beat the visiting Patriots 38-20 Friday in the quarterfinal round of the Class 4A Sectional 6 tournament.
The Giants advance to the semifinal Friday at Norwell, which defeated the Frankfort Hot Dogs 35-14 in its opening-round game.
“I’m very, very pleased and proud of the way we performed in the second half,” said JCHS coach Tim Millspaugh, whose team fell to 2-8 on the season. “We were all very disappointed in the first half (with) the turnovers and the big plays.
“Just all facets we did not play very well in the first half.”
Jay County trailed 28-6 to start the third quarter, and its defense forced Marion (1-9) to punt on its opening drive of the second half.
The Patriots, who had thrown for more than 100 yards just once in the last two seasons, turned to the air in the third quarter, as senior Joey Link found his classmate Cameron Kunkle in the left corner of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown. The pass-and-catch capped off a 10-play, 62-yard drive in which Cole Stigleman carried the ball three times for 41 yards.
Stigleman, a freshman, totaled 106 rushing yards on 21 carries and also caught three passes for 36 yards. Link was 9-of-15 with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Kunkle’s score got Jay County within two possessions, 28-12, but Marion senior Will Collins followed it up with a 57-yard scamper four plays later to put the Giants up 35-12.
Collins racked up 173 yards and three touchdowns on just six carries, as he added TD runs of 67 and 31 yards.
“We don’t have anyone that’s comparable to Will Collins,” Millspaugh said. “We just don’t. Adjusting to what he can do in terms of vertical speed and also shiftiness was very difficult.”
A defensive pass interference call on Marion gave Jay County the football at the Giants’ 49-yard line on the ensuing drive, and Link then connected with Brandon Muhlenkamp for a 10-yard score to get the Patriots back within two scores, 35-20.
Muhlenkamp, who was covered by two Marion defenders in the right corner of the end zone, caught the pass as he was falling to the ground after an initial tip by Collins. Stigleman dived across the goal line for the two-point conversion, cutting the deficit to 35-20 with 1:29 remaining in the third.
Levi Hummel, who had found the end zone in the second quarter for his first career touchdown, recovered the ensuing onside kick at the Marion 39-yard line to continue the Patriot threat.
“Offensively we moved the ball in the second half,” Millspaugh said. “We got the ball in the air and got it to some of our skilled kids in the perimeter.”
The Marion defense held strong, though, as the Patriots turned the ball over on downs four plays later. Jay County caught a break, though, when Thomas Noble recovered a Keiron Sanders fumble at the JCHS 44-yard line.
But Jay County’s subsequent possession lasted only seven plays covering 10 yards.
“I felt like we weren’t quite as aggressive,” Marion coach Ryan Vermillion said of the second half. “(Jay County) came out and had a pretty good game plan. They made some adjustments and then we had to adjust back.”
But it was all Marion in the opening half.
Collins scored the opening touchdown, and then a fumble ended Jay County’s ensuing drive. Marion quarterback Lorenzo Trevino then kept the ball on a zone-read option and went untouched down the right sideline for a 58-yard score.
Hummel’s 1-yard score capped off an eight play drive, highlighted by Levi Stant’s 44-yard catch down the left sideline, cutting the deficit to 14-6.
Link later found Kunkle in the middle of the field for a 50-yard reception, the longest pass play of the season for Jay County. Link was sacked three plays later, and Trevino stepped in front of the Patriot senior’s pass on fourth-and-22 and took it 63 yards for the Giants’ third score of the half.
While a 2-8 record isn’t what anyone around the program wanted, Millspaugh commended the seniors playing in their last game at Jay County for their hard work.
“They put in a lot of time and effort the last four years,” he said of the 16 seniors.
“The kids in general, sticking together … 2-8 is a tough year. There’s not many teams in their last week that can say they had their best week of practice.”