Jets blow by Patriots

Stephen Eicher ran over the Jay County defense last season.
He got his yards again this year, and so did his two running mates in the backfield.
Class 1A No. 10 Adams Central carried the football to the tune of 356 yards and scored five rushing touchdowns in a 43-7 victory Friday over the Jay County Patriots.
“All three of them did outstanding jobs and we hope to keep those guys going,” said ACHS coach Michael Mosser, whose team moved to 4-0 (1-0 Allen County Athletic Conference). “They’re a lot of fun to watch and they all have different skills that teams have to be able to prepare for.
“They are darn good backs.”
JCHS coach Tim Millspaugh can look back at the opening half — Adams Central had a 33-0 lead at halftime — and find things the Patriots (1-3, 0-2 ACAC) can improve on.
“I was very disappointed with our effort in the first half,” said Millspaugh, whose team hosts Bluffton for homecoming Friday. “I was very disappointed with our overall execution and attitude.”
Jay County fumbled on its third play from scrimmage, and Hunter Bates — he had 161 rushing yards on 18 carries — scored the first of his three touchdowns on the next play from the Patriot 18-yard line.
Adams Central forced Jay County to a four-and-out on its next drive. Bates then rushed five times for 55 yards on the Jets’ next possession, scoring on a 19-yard run off left tackle. Skyler Douglas’ kick gave the visitors a quick 13-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
Bates added another score midway through the second quarter, this time from 2 yards out, to give the Jets a 19-0 advantage.
Millspaugh credited the Jets’ linemen for their ability to push the Patriots off the line of scrimmage and create running room for the Jets’ trio of backs, which included Bailey Hurst.
“They have great size up front,” Millspaugh said. “Those kids aren’t just big kids. They get off the football. They move the pile. They do have quickness, there is no doubt about that.”
Eicher, who torched the Patriots for 288 yards as a junior, totaled 102 yards on the ground this year, and Hurst had 46. Eicher found the end zone twice before halftime, first on a 37-yard pass from quarterback Andrew Hammond, and again on an 84-yard scamper following a Hammond interception.
The long run put Adams Central up 40-0.
In all, the Patriots turned the ball over three times, including a pair of interceptions.
The first interception came in the opening quarter, when JCHS quarterback Holton Hill threw a pass to Bryan Stancliffe down the right sideline.
Stancliffe jumped in an attempt to make the catch and had it in his hands until defensive back Chase Stahl knocked it loose. Hammond was there to snag the ball before it hit the ground for his first of two picks.
“I thought our secondary played real good,” said Mosser, who noted that group was one of the biggest question marks for his team entering the game. “We knew they liked to pass the ball.”
Adams Central nearly had another touchdown later in third quarter when Hammond connected with the 6-foot, 5-inch Luke Voirol. Facing a third-and-16 from the Patriot 42,
Hammond threw over the middle to Voirol, who hauled in the pass inside the 5-yard line over the top of Jacob Geesaman, who is 5-feet, 7-inches tall. Geesaman made the tackle at the 1-yard line.
Caleb Kunkle and Geesaman led Jay County with 10 tackles each.
The Patriot defense forced the Jets back five yards in three plays, and Adams Central had to settle for a Douglas field goal for their final points of the game.
“I thought we showed some grit,” Millspaugh said. “We dug in, we competed like crazy.”
But it was too little too late.
“Are you going to get that end result every time? No.” Millspaugh said. “But if you bring that type of toughness, that type of effort gives you a chance to compete.
“If you don’t bring that consistently you get the result of the scoreboard that we got today.”
The lone scoring drive for Jay County was courtesy of the junior varsity squad. After a few botched center exchanges, the Patriots were inside the Jets’ red zone for the first time of the night late in the fourth quarter.
From the 8-yard line, freshman Michael Schlecthy caught a pass from classmate Parker Grimes at the 5-yard line, bowled over a Jet defender and trotted into the corner of the end zone.