Faulkner finishes Tigers

He had already basically run rampant through the Tiger defense.

When the Patriots needed a play of their own defensively, Quinn Faulkner put his team on his shoulder.

Literally.

Faulkner, a Jay County High School senior, had a historic rushing night and laid the wood on a fourth down play to help seal the Patriot football team’s 40-27 homecoming win against the Bluffton Tigers on Friday at Harold E. Schutz Memorial Stadium.

“Felt really nice,” Faulkner said of being able to contribute on both sides of the ball for the first time this season. “Haven’t been able to play defense lately; they’ve been keeping me on offense.

“I got my chance to come out and play defense and took advantage of it. Came down, made a play on a pass and ended the game.”

Jay County moves to 3-2 on the year — the first time since 2016 it’s had that mark after five games — and is 2-1 in Allen County Athletic Conference play.

“Credit to Jay County (and coach Grant) Zgunda,” said Bluffton coach Brent Kunkel, whose team has lost four straight games and is now 1-4 (0-2 ACAC). “He had his team ready to go. We clearly were not ready to go.”

Trailing 40-21 late in the fourth quarter, Bluffton picked off a Sam Dunlavy pass at the JCHS 40 and took it down to the 20. Two plays later, quarterback Lukas Hunt connected with Gus Martinez for a 14-yard TD as the Tigers cut the margin to 13 points with 1:55 to play.

The Tigers recovered the ensuing onside kick at the JCHS 46, and three plays later faced fourth-and-5 from the 36.

Hunt, who was 16-of-24 passing for 196 yards at that point, rolled to his right and threw a dart to Tucker Jenkins. Faulkner, a safety, met Jenkins right as the ball did, and his hard hit knocked the ball loose for the turnover on downs.

Two plays later, Faulkner rumbled 38 yards to truly seal the win.

“I’m glad he’s on our team,” Zgunda said of Faulkner. “He is a weapon and he just gets better each game, in my mind.”

Faulkner finished with 28 rushes for a career-high 253 yards, the second-most in a single game in JCHS history. Justin Gilbert had 313 yards in a 2005 sectional win over Pendleton Heights.

“Feels amazing,” said Faulkner, who scored on runs of 6, 26, 60, 20 and 3 yards. “Offensive line came out and executed. Found some gaps, found some field, took it and ran.”

Caleb Hale added 63 yards and a touchdown on nine carries, as Jay County totaled 317 rushing yards.

“The kids ran the ball hard,” Kunkel said, praising the Patriots. “They beat us up front.”

Hale’s 37-yard touchdown on Jay County’s opening drive gave the Patriots a lead they never gave up, but it was aided by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that erased a would-be third-and-long situation for the Patriots.

And on the Tigers’ first possession following Hale’s TD, Kadin Ridenour recovered a fumble — he finished with two fumble recoveries and an interception — that set up Faulkner’s first score, which put JCHS on top 14-7 with 7:46 remaining in the first.

Bluffton responded with a 48-yard touchdown run from Jon San Juan to make it 14-7.

Faulkner’s two second-quarter TDs, including a 60-yard scamper on fourth-and-1, gave the Patriots a 28-13 edge at halftime.

Jay County had two takeaways in the second half but wasn’t able to turn them into points. The fifth and final time Faulkner reached the end zone put the Patriots on top 40-21 with 4:41 remaining in the fourth quarter before Bluffton made it a two-possession game less than three minutes later.

But after the onside kick, Faulkner sealed the win with his booming hit on fourth down and 1:02 left on the clock.

“We made plays on defense when we had to, point blank,” Zgunda said. “There was some hitting going on tonight. We’ve been preaching to our kids we have to be more physical on both sides of the ball.

“We’re getting there. It’s fun to watch and it’s fun to be a part of. These guys, we’re going to try to keep getting better until sectional.”

In addition to his nearly 200 yards through the air, Hunt led Bluffton with 93 rushing yards on 14 carries.

“Lukas Hunt is a freaking warrior, man,” Kunkel said. “First half we were doing what we wanted to do; we want to keep the ball on the ground and they were giving us looks to keep the ball on the ground. Our top two running backs, San Juan and (John Ringger) got knocked out on consecutive plays. Junior Anthony Cruz doesn’t have a ton of carries.

“We were in a situation (in the second half) we had to throw the ball. Lukas was seeing the field well. The kid fights.”

The Patriots fought harder, however, in treating a raucous homecoming crowd to a victory.

“It means everything,” Faulkner said of the victory. “We get some momentum (and) get the community behind us. That’s big for us. That’s who we’re playing for.”