Patriot spikers beat Bluffton

BLUFFTON — The Patriots are back in the win column.
Jay County High School’s volleyball team bounced back from consecutive losses to defeat Allen County Athletic Conference foe Bluffton on Tuesday, 3-1.
The Patriots, who move to 6-4 on the season and 1-0 in conference play, earned a 25-20, 25-16, 21-25, 25-10 victory.
Abby Barcus had team highs in both kills and service points with 15 apiece to go with her seven digs. Olivia Kunkler had a career-best 10 kills, and also had 11 service points.
Randi Ferguson notched a team-high 11 digs while contributing eight kills. Chloe Trissel tallied 10 digs and eight service points, while Kendal Garringer had 11 points and 22 assists.
Jay County’s junior varsity team also won, 25-24, 25-10, after falling behind 20-9 in the opening set.
Hanna Dillon led the team with four kills as well as two blocks. Emma James tallied 14 service points and 11 assists, and Sara Hemmelgarn had eight points, four aces, three kills and two digs.

JC girls second
Jay County’s girls golf team finished second Tuesday in a three-team match against Yorktown and Wes-Del at Portland Golf Club.
Yorktown totaled 214 points for first place. Jay County (7-5) totaled 222, its highest nine-hole score of the season, and Wes-Del was third with 247.
Senior Kendra Dodd led the Patriots with a 44. It was her second-best score of the season after shooting a 41 Aug. 23. Fellow senior Madison Brown finished second on the team with a 58.
Carlie Wickey and Cassie Reno, both of whom are also seniors, shot identical scores of 60 to complete the Patriots’ team total.
Madalyn Garringer also competed and she finished with a 68.

Boys fifth
CONVERSE — The Jay County boys cross country team placed fifth on Tuesday in the Oak Hill Invitational.
Skyler Myers and Alex LeMaster were the top two runners for the Patriot boys. Myers finished 19th, and LeMaster was one spot behind him.
Also running were Tayler Smeltzer, Mason Winner, Ben Strausburg, Matthew Minnich, Candler Hedges and Nathanael Day.
For the girls, Erika Kunkler earned the best finish by placing 10th. Gabby Kunker was second on the team in 20th.
Also running were Kiara Walter and Vivienne Kunkler.
Team scores and times were not provided.

JV football wins
PONETO — Gabe Faulkner threw three touchdowns in the first half, leading the Jay County junior varsity football team to a 42-0 victory Tuesday against Southern Wells.
Faulkner completed passes to Noah Harris for 35 yards, Max Moser for 60 and Caleb Webster for 20 to get the Patriots (2-1) ahead early.
Collin Haines had a rushing touchdown in the third quarter as well as a two-point conversion in the opening frame. Trey Castillo and Austin Schlosser also had TD runs of 60 and 1 yard respectively.
Defensively, Haines had three sacks and forced three fumbles.

Freshmen fall
SHERIDAN — The Jay County freshman football team fell to 0-3 on the season Tuesday with a 38-0 loss to the Sheridan Blackhawks.
Tristan Huftel led the offense with 47 rushing yards.
Ethan Corwin had eight tackles on defense.
No other stats were provided.
Jay County looks to put an end to its losing streak when it travels to Winchester at 6 p.m. Monday.