Boys bounce back by beating Braves

Brad Horn won’t sugarcoat it. He was not pleased with how his team played in its home opener Tuesday.

The 1-1 draw with Richmond was a tough pill to swallow.

He can go into the weekend feeling much better about the Patriots’ play.

Teamwork, as they say, makes the dream work.

Three players provided all the offense for the Jay County High School boys soccer team in a 4-0 victory Thursday against the Bellmont Braves.

“It’s not even just the win, it’s the way we played today,” Horn, Jay County’s coach, said. “We played much better as a team and worked together.

“Three guys scored our four goals. We just really worked together, played a lot better together.”

The Patriots are back in the win column after starting the season with three consecutive victories followed by three straight losses and then Tuesday’s draw.

Less than 12 minutes into the match, freshman Dylan Marentes put the Patriots on the board with his fourth goal of the year.

The youngster chased down a through ball past the Bellmont defense, then put a right-footed shot into the left side of the net on a Levi Muhlenkamp assist for the only mark Jay County really needed.

“Him and Levi together as freshmen, the goal-scoring ability and the skill they have, it’s going to be a joy for the next four years,” Horn said. “That’s what (assistant coach) Bobby (Ruiz) and I talked about, coming out right from the get-go and having an early start. We had a couple games in the past where we’ve given up a goal in the first two or 10 minutes. I don’t care who you are that has an effect on you.

“Just going out, getting an early lead helped us out with our confidence.”

Not to be outdone by his brother, Cristian Marentes, a senior, tallied the first of his two goals. In the 34th minute, he beat Brave keeper DJ Kiston for his team-leading sixth goal of the season. Jay County took the 2-0 advantage into halftime.

Then nearing the midway point of the second half, Cristian Marentes manufactured a goal although he wasn’t the one who put it in net.

After a foul near the Patriot bench, Josh Dowlen took the free kick and hit a light pass to Marentes, who sprinted down the left side of the attacking zone. Just before approaching the end line, he used his left foot to send a cross pass to the center, and Muhlenkamp headed it into the far post for a 3-0 JCHS lead.

The Muhlenkamp mark put him again in a tie with Marentes for most goals on the team this season.

“Cristian Marentes, his IQ is so high for the game,” Horn said. “He sees that stuff. He knew right from the get-go. I kind of mentioned it as well, but he saw it coming even before I mentioned something.

“Just his IQ of the game.”

The older Marentes added another goal — his now team-leading seventh — in the 75th minute on an assist from Carter Link.

Jay County’s senior goalkeeper Ian Ruiz didn’t have to do a ton of work, only making two saves in recording the 10th shutout of his career.

And finally getting to wear their home red kits, Horn was pleased the way his team was able to bounce back from the program’s first draw since a scoreless game with Richmond Sept. 12, 2017.

“Tuesday, we played very poorly,” he said. “They know it too, it’s not anything I’m saying that’s surprising them.

“We’ve kind of been depleted with injuries the last couple of games (but) the heart they’re playing with right now, I can’t really complain.

In junior varsity action, Jay County and Bellmont played to a scoreless draw in one half of play.