Patriot defense stops Tigers

Jay County had a difficult time stopping D’Wayne Eskridge in the first quarter.
The Western Michigan commit scored twice on runs of 54 and 53 yards.
Midway through the second quarter, Jay County’s football team had a 22-14 lead with Bluffton at the Patriot 14-yard line.
Eskridge took the handoff from quarterback Tim Davis on second-and-7, ran to his right and was tackled from behind.
It was his last carry of the game.
Eskridge left the game with an ankle injury, and the Tigers had a difficult time making up for his absence as the Jay County football team defeated the Tigers 36-28.
“It is huge,” senior Levi Hummel said. “It feels good to get another win, no matter what team it is, especially on homecoming.”
Jay County coach Tim Millspaugh said he was disappointed to see Eskridge get hurt. After getting rolled up from behind by Mario Rodriguez — at halftime the senior defensive end was crowned homecoming king — Eskridge started shrieking in pain and ripped off his helmet.
“It’s very unfortunate,” Millspaugh said. “You never want to see a kid get hurt.”
“Obviously early we were not pleased at all with how we were doing defending (him). If you let him get out of second level it’s good night, and we knew that.”
Eskridge finished with 127 yards and two touchdowns on six carries. He was averaging nearly 200 yards per game.
“We knew Eskridge was going to be a problem,” Hummel said, “After he went out … we definitely stepped it up and (the defense) was a lot better for us.”
Two plays later, however, Davis found Garrett Walborn over the middle for a score, and the 2-point conversion pass failed to allow Jay County (2-3, 1-2 ACAC) to keep 22-20 lead. That score that held until halftime.
Bluffton (2-3, 1-2 ACAC) had to change its game plan offensively in the second half with its premier player still in the locker room, and it took a while to get going.
The Tigers punted on their first drive of the half, and Jay County pushed its lead to 28-20 when Cole Stigleman scored the second of his two touchdowns on a 12-yard sweep around the right side.
Bluffton drove the field on its ensuing possession — it was aided by an encroachment penalty on fourth-and-5 from midfield — but on second-and-goal JCHS junior Ivan Hemmelgarn picked off a tipped pass to end the Tiger threat.
“Offensively, we weren’t able to make enough plays, finish enough drives,” said Bluffton coach Randy Hudgins. “On defense, we weren’t able to get enough stops.”
Jay County forced Bluffton to turn the ball over on downs during its first drive, which gave the Patriots the ball at the Tigers’ 48-yard line. Back-to-back runs by Stigleman got Jay County to the Bluffton 20, and Ryan Schlechty powered around the left side on one of his career-high 11 carries to get the Patriots inside the 10.
Stigleman led the Patriots with 99 yards rushing, and also had a 27-yard completion to Aaron Neal on a halfback pass.
Quarterback Holton Hill was 4-of-12 for 64 yards, one touchdown and a pair of interceptions.
Schlechty finished with 73 yards rushing, and caught his first career touchdown pass during the first quarter. The freshman was thrust into action after Noah Hummel — who was replacing the injured Drew Huffman — left in the first half with an injury as well.
Senior Levi Hummel then ran up the middle untouched for his second touchdown of the game, making it 36-20 with 7:10 to play.
“I owe a lot of credit to my line,” Hummel said of his 16-carry, 61-yard effort. “That last touchdown I could have walked in the hole was so big.”
But Bluffton came roaring back when Davis orchestrated an 8-play, 63-yard scoring drive complete with a 22-yard pass to Wilborn on fourth-and-13.
Davis hit Nick Huffar in the right side of the end zone to cut the deficit to eight.
Jay County recovered the ensuing onside kick at its own 36 with 3:58 remaining, and turned the ball over on downs on its own 45 with 1:48 to play.
A Davis pass to Dakota Cole put the Tigers at the Patriot 35-yard line, but a holding penalty pushed them back to the 43.
Three straight passes fell incomplete, and the Patriots ran out the clock to seal the win.
“I think this is great,” said Millspaugh, whose team travels to Woodlan Friday to take on the Warriors. “(It) came at a perfect time to give us that boost and confidence to face a really good team.”