Fabulous third

INDIANAPOLIS — Some teams hope to score 43 points in a game.
Jay County scored 43 points in one quarter.
With a 21-0 lead at halftime, the Jay County High School football team scored five offensive touchdowns in the third quarter Friday and added another on defense en route to a 64-8 blasting of the John Marshall Patriots at Arlington.
“Our offensive line, we’ve had to shuffle people around with injuries,” said JCHS coach Tim Millspaugh, whose team moved to 4-4 on the season. “They continue to do a great job.
“Everybody on our offense tonight did a great job, especially in the second half.”
The visiting Patriots’ 64 points were the highest since setting a school record Sept. 13, 2013, in a 69-28 victory against Anderson Prep.
Sophomore Cole Stigleman and senior Drew Huffman each had three touchdowns, including two apiece in the 43-point third frame.
Stigleman scored from 21 and 2 yards respectively after he got the Jay County offense started with a 6-yard scamper on the first drive of the game. He finished with 166 yards on 16 carries, and also had 10 yards receiving.
Huffman had scoring runs of 22, 3 and 17 yards, reaching the end zone on half of his carries as he totaled 59 yards.
“They definitely help our offense go,” Millspaugh said.
“I thought we played pretty well tonight,” said Huffman, who has been nursing an ankle injury and admitted it was sore before the game started. “I think I started off a little slow. The offensive line did a good job up front. It makes my job easy.”
Levi Hummel also had a pair of touchdowns, one in each of the second and third quarters. His first score, a 16-yard run up the middle in the second, gave Jay County a 21-0 lead with 4:49 left in the half.
Marshall (0-8), which only had 16 players dress despite having 36 listed on its roster, turned the ball over on the kickoff to start the second half. Jacob Geesaman fell on the loose ball, and Huffman reached the end zone a minute later as the Jay County scored all 43 points in 10 minutes, 3 seconds.
It was the first of four takeaways by the visiting Patriots, who held Marshall to just 7 yards of total offense in the first half. The home team ran the ball 25 times, 10 of which it was tackled behind the line of scrimmage.
The home Patriots finished with a rushing total of negative-1 yard, thanks to four sacks of Quishon Adams. Three of those were from senior Mario Rodriguez, who also scooped a fumble at midfield and ran it down the right sideline for a score.
“I was very pleased with (the defense),” said Rodriguez, who missed the last two games for personal reasons. “I was so happy to be back on starting (defense). It’s been too long.”
“Going into the year I told you … that dude was going to be a player,” Millspaugh said of the defensive end. “He is strong. He understands the scheme. His technique is really good. He is a heck of a defensive player.”
But it was the entire defense that also shined, holding Marshall to just 158 yards of total offense. Bryan Stancliffe picked off a pass at the Patriot 40-yard line and returned it to the 5 to set up a Hummel touchdown. Skyler Johnson also had an interception.
“We’ve been proud of them for a while,” Millspaugh said. “They’ve made quite a bit of progress. Our rush defense is solid. It’s been a long time coming. These guys have gotten better each week. They play with some swagger now and it’s fun to watch.”
Marshall’s only scoring play came in the third quarter, when Adams heaved a ball downfield to Lee Driver, who caught the ball at the 13-yard line, immediately broke a tackle and ran to the right corner of the end zone.
Jay County benefited from a turnover in the fourth quarter when Adams fumbled a snap deep in the Marshall zone. He picked up the loose ball and launched it to out of bounds before being tackled, drawing a flag that gave Jay County the football at the host Patriot 8-yard line.
With the junior varsity players in, Jay County’s drive stalled at the 1. Following a delay of game penalty, kicker Jacob Ferguson hit a 22-yard field goal to cap off his season debut in which he also hit seven of his nine PAT attempts.