No moral victories

MUNCIE — The Patriots closed the gap to just one point in the waning moments of the first half.

Set to get the ball to start the third quarter, they were primed to take the lead against the host Eagles.

The Jay County High School football team kept Charlie Spegal in check during the final 24 minutes and moved the ball more effectively in the second half, but had too many drives come up empty in a 28-19 loss to the Delta Eagles on Friday.

“There is no moral victories right now,” said JCHS coach Tim Millspaugh, whose team dips to 1-1 and begins Allen County Athletic Conference play Friday at Southern Wells. “We feel like we have a team that can win games against those type of teams in those close games.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t get it done tonight. It really stings, and I guarantee, you look at those kids’ faces, it stings to them.”

Trailing 28-13 late in the fourth quarter, Jay County forced Delta (2-0) to turn the ball over on downs on its own 42 yard line with 5 minutes, 51 seconds, left on the clock.

The Patriots marched 58 yards in six plays, including an 8-yard pass to Parker Grimes on third-and-6 as well as a 17-yard strike to Noah Hummel.

Holton Hill capped the scoring drive by rolling to his right and finding Ryan Schlechty for a 10-yard score with 4:33 left in the game. After a botched snap on the point-after attempt, Jay County trailed 28-19.

Delta went three-and-out on its ensuing drive and Jay County got the ball on its own 27 with 2:54 left on the clock.

But like three of its four previous possessions, Jay County wasn’t able to find the end zone.

“It took us a little while to get going,” said Millspaugh, whose team had 108 yards at half and finished with 252 for the game. Delta gained 367 yards of total offense. “They were creating some problems when we were in our run-and-shoot package with their slanting.”

Delta coach Chris Overholt said the slanting of the defensive line was effective early, but agreed his defense had trouble stopping fullback Michael Schlechty and the Patriot running game.

“We knew if we kept giving them opportunities from an offensive standpoint that big boy (Schlechty) was going to wear us down,” said Overholt, who was an assistant at Jay County before taking over the Delta gig last season. “He was really good.”

“The adjustment we made was to keep slanting, get in the gaps and try to get them behind in the count early and get them back into … throwing the ball. It worked sometimes, and sometimes we went for a ride with the big boy.”

Schlechty finished with 21 carries for 100 yards, all but 18 of which came in the second half.

Spegal, a sophomore who racked up 312 yards on 27 carries against Centerville a week ago, totaled 206 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries. A solid chunk of that yardage came in the opening quarter as he broke free for an 86-yard touchdown.

“He is a really big, powerful, fast back,” Millspaugh said. “We have to get a lot of hats there. For the most part … we did.”

Overholt credited Jay County’s defense for stopping Spegal, who only had 54 yards in the second half.

“They did a great job of taking things away from him and we had to call upon a lot of other people to do things,” Overholt said. Delta’s sophomore quarterback Zach Garner added 51 yards and a touchdown on a dozen carries. “That is a testament to their coaching staff and everything else. They were prepared to take away our bread and butter and they did for a while, but we found a way to be scrappy and get it out there in the end.”

On its second possession of the game, Delta benefitted from a bad snap on a Jay County punt as it started from the Patriot 28. Five plays later, Spegal scored from 5 yards away to make it 7-0 Eagles.

Jay County answered quickly, however, as Hill hit Caleb Webster over the middle on a post route, and he broke free for a 61-yard touchdown thanks to a Grimes block downfield.

Late in the second quarter, Hill tossed his second touchdown of the game when he found Hummel wide open down the left sideline for a 17-yard score on fourth-and-5. Collin Haines had his extra point attempt blocked, and the Patriots trailed by one at half.

Jay County got the ball to start the third quarter, and its drive ended at midfield on a Hill interception. He was 7-for-21 passing for 121 yards with a three scores and a pick.

“The passing game, it will continue to get better,” Millspaugh said. “I don’t think this was our best night in terms of protection, routes and even mechanics.

“I do think it’s going to be a really good part of our offense.”