Lambert breaks loose

The Patriots struck first, scoring on the game’s opening drive.
The Eagles controlled the game the rest of the way.
Delta quarterback Tanner Lambert threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and the Eagle defense created fits at the line of scrimmage for the Jay County High School football team in a 33-6 victory Friday.
“We play to his strengths,” said first-year Delta coach Chris Overholt, who was an assistant at Jay County from 2008 to ’14.
“He likes to be on the move,” Overholt added. Lambert was 8-of-12 passing for 117 yards and added 91 more on the ground. “We can’t say enough nice things about him. He is our captain. It all goes through him.”
Despite allowing 378 yards of total offense to the Eagles, JCHS coach Tim MIllspaugh said he thought the Patriot defense played well.
“To be honest I was pretty proud of our defense,” he said. “They were out there a lot.”
Delta (1-0), which is the defending sectional champion, ran 54 plays from scrimmage, compared to 45 for Jay County (0-1).
“The thing that was a killer is we gave up big plays,” Millspaugh said.
The first such play was in the second quarter. Delta led 7-6 late in the first quarter when Jay County punted on back-to-back possessions. Charlie Spegal — the 5-foot, 10-inch, 215-pound freshman finished with 129 yards and two touchdowns — gained 2 yards on the first play of the drive.
Lambert then faked the handoff to Spegal, kept the ball on an option read to the right side, then cut across the field for a 59-yard score. The Eagles led 13-6 after the PAT was blocked by JCHS senior Jacob Geesaman.
On Delta’s next drive, Lambert connected with Rylan Sullivan for a 46-yard pass. Lambert pump faked an out route, and Sullivan cut up the right sideline and caught the pass in stride for a touchdown. Lambert then tossed a conversion pass to Adam Haynes for a 21-6 advantage nearly five minutes into the second quarter.
Lambert found Logan Clawson later in the half, and Spegal scored from 26 yards out in the fourth quarter on fourth-and-25.
“Given the fact we’re going to see him another three years, I don’t love that,” Millspaugh said. “He is a pretty good player, no question.”
Jay County’s only score came on third-and-10, when junior quarterback Holton Hill found Bryan Stancliffe on the left sideline for a quick out. With a Delta defensive back giving cushion, Stancliffe was able to make one move and scamper down the left sideline for 85 yards.
The Patriots were unable to sustain much offensively after that. Hill was 5-for-10 for 130 yards in the first half, and sophomore Parker Grimes was 3-for-8 for 57 yards, 37 of which were on the last play of the opening half.
After the first drive, Jay County had a difficult time handling a Delta defense that returns eight starters. The Patriots were pushed back often, finishing with negative-13 yards rushing — sophomore Ryan Schlechty led the way with eight yards and Cole Stigleman had seven — while the JCHS quarterbacks were sacked three times.
“We had issues up front,” said Millspaugh, whose team travels to Hartford City next week to take on the Blackford Bruins. “We have got to handle and control the line of scrimmage better against a team like that if we’re going to compete in the sectional and the conference for the championship.”
Overholt was pleased with his defense’s ability to limit Stigleman and the other Patriot rushers.
“I’m very proud of that,” he said. “Cole Stigleman is one of the best backs in the area. I had a chance to coach him his freshman year and I believe in his talent.
“(Jay County) made us play the best week one game we could tonight.”