Running to victory

Jay County moved the ball almost at will.
Marshall didn’t drive the field until the home team took out its starters.
Cole Stigleman and Jacob Geesaman both rushed for more than 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns Friday as the Jay County High School football team blew past the Marshall Patriots 54-8 on senior night.
“The holes were big enough to put semis through tonight,” said Geesaman, a senior who had 108 rushing yards on eight carries. “Made it pretty easy for us. Linemen did a great job.”
Stigleman, a sophomore, had a game-high 173 rushing yards on 15 carries, and he also had one catch for 25 yards. He scored the first touchdown of the game, a 1-yard run, and scored from 4 yards out late in the second quarter as the Patriots led 41-0 at halftime.
Jay County coach Tim Millspaugh commended the entire offense for totaling 392 total yards, 333 of which were on the ground.
“I thought the offensive line did a really nice job,” said Millspaugh, whose team is guaranteed a winning regular season with its fifth victory of the year. “Thought Cole ran really hard and that’s what we’re wanting to continue to see more of. Goose runs hard all the time. Does a really nice job setting up his blocks.”
Ryan Schlechty scored on back-to-back drives for Jay County (5-3), finding the end zone on an 8-yard run and then catching a 9-yard touchdown pass from Holton Hill. Schlechty’s second touchdown made it 20-0 with 1 minute, 22 seconds, to play in the first quarter.
Schlechty carried the ball six times for 42 yards and caught one pass. Hill was 5-of-7 passing for 59 yards and two TDs. He also connected with Bryan Stancliffe for a 3-yard score in the third quarter.
Jay County scored on seven of its nine possessions, only punting once during the fourth quarter when its junior varsity offense wasn’t able to gain positive yardage. The host Patriots had a drive end at the Marshall 1-yard line before halftime.
“I feel like we’re making good progress offensively and we’re going to need it in these next two weeks,” Millspaugh said.
Marshall gained only 93 yards of total offense, 43 of which came in the fourth quarter against Jay County’s JV defense.
Quarterback Elijah Hutcherson orchestrated a six-play scoring drive early in the final period, converting a second-and-17 with a 19-yard run. After back-to-back incompletions, he tossed a pass to Jalen Johnson-Taylor to get the visiting Patriots to the JCHS 10-yard line. On the next play he found Jathon Jackson for a 10-yard touchdown to break the shutout.
“I was pleased,” Millspaugh said of the defense, noting that with Hutcherson’s athleticism he chose to spy the speedster with a pair of linebackers. At times, that allowed Marshall receivers to slip in front of the secondary. Fortunately for the home team, Hutcherson missed his targets. He was 5-for-15 for 37 yards.
“They did have some opportunities and got some yards there,” Millspaugh said. “All in all I thought we played well.”
In a bizarre play early in the second quarter, Marshall was forced to punt from its 25-yard line. The kick only traveled 10 yards to outside blocker Caden Stant, who looked up as the ball fell into his arms. With the Marshall gunner not attempting to tackle him, he went down the right side of the field for the touchdown.
“I’ve been here for 15 years and we’ve never returned one for a touchdown,” Millspaugh said. “The punt was obviously really short. He caught it and kind of froze (and) ran it back for a touchdown.
“That was real exciting for him and for us because of the significance of it.”
Stant’s return touchdown made it 27-0 as Jay County scored 20 and 21 points respectively in the first two quarters.
With a winning regular season secured, Jay County turns its attention to Heritage in another battle of Patriots. Jay County has not won in Monroeville.
“Going into next week we have a chance to get another goal in our season, and that is to place third in (Allen County Athletic Conference),” Geesaman said. “We’re looking forward to that game.”
Stigleman added, “Plus, 6-3 sounds a lot better than 5-4.”