Heart over Huntington

HUNTINGTON — The Vikings had all the momentum.

The Patriots were making mistakes.

It was a recipe for a comeback win for Huntington North and a devastating defeat for Jay County.

The Patriots had the heart to pull out the win.

It was the unsung heroes that helped the Jay County High School football team outlast the comeback and pull off the Patriots’ first win over the Huntington North Vikings in two decades, 14-9 Friday night.

The win moves the Patriots to 2-0 for the first time since 2011, when Delta had to forfeit a 55-0 victory in the opening week of the season. It was the first time since 1996 that Jay County was 2-0 with a pair of wins on the field.

“A lot of hard work and effort went into getting this win,” JCHS coach Grant Zgunda said. “It’s just heart. A lot of things went wrong and we made mistakes, but we just kept fighting. It’s nice to see us wear somebody else down for a change … I felt like we won the line of scrimmage.”

Down only one score with five minutes left in the game, the Vikings had Jay County on the ropes.

A 68-yard punt placed the football on Jay County’s 3-yard line. A loss of two yards put it inches from the end zone.

Both of Sean Bailey’s passes couldn’t find their targets. The Patriots were forced to punt on fourth-and-12. Bailey got the snap and stepped out the back of the end zone for a safety to make it a 14-9 game and give Huntington North the ball.

On the third play of the Vikings’ drive, Noah Wagner reeled in a 31-yard catch after struggling to hold onto the ball all game. With first-and-goal on the 5-yard line, the Vikings were in prime position to take the lead with four minutes left.

On the first play, Luke Teusch was stopped behind the line of scrimmage. Ian Wiley was pressured and couldn’t get a clean look at a target on the second and third plays.

On fourth down, Teusch slipped past the defense right up the middle. Wiley tossed it over to him, but Benson Ward came from behind to bother the play and save the Patriots from a debilitating touchdown.

“It gave us energy and it felt good,” Ward said. “It really hyped us up and kept us going.”

The Patriots burned a minute off the clock before punting the ball away, forced the Vikings to go four-and-out and kneeled the clock out for the victory.

“Last year, we’d lose games because of those situations,” Bailey said. “They’d get a deep ball and we’d all hang our heads … (The defense) is the reason we won the game. That’s for sure.”

The Vikings punched the Patriots in the mouth to start the game.

They caught Jay County off guard with a squib kick to start the contest, recovered it and quickly marched down the field to score. 

After the first drive, Jay County tightened up, forcing the Vikings four-and-out on their second drive.

A 14-play drive led to the Patriots’ first score of the game at the start of the second quarter. A.J. Myers capped off the drive with a 3-yard touchdown. 

The JCHS defense kept the Vikings offense to a minimum in the quarter, forcing another four-and-out and picking off Wiley.

A tired Huntington North defense started to pick up penalties.

“Some of them were inexcusable and some of them were head-scratchers too,” Huntington North first-year coach Mike Eshbach said. “It’s a whole lot of little things that add up to a big thing.”

The Vikings committed nine penalties for 81 yards.

The Patriots’ second score came as time expired in the second quarter. Bailey found Justin DeHoff leaking out to the right corner of the end zone and completed the 13-yard touchdown pass. Myers converted on the 2-point play to put the Patriots up by a touchdown heading into the locker room.

“It was surreal,” DeHoff said. “It was a great ball, caught it, scored it and celebrated with my teammates.

“I’ve got high praise for the o-line for hanging in there and taking on these bigger kids. And high praise to (Bailey) for getting those balls to me.”

Huntington North pushed the Patriots’ defense coming out the half. A fast-paced offense was able to move nearly 50 yards downfield before the defense could string together enough stops to end the drive. From there, they would only give up 52 yards, 31 of which came on the completion to Wagner, the rest of the game.

“Just a scrappy, tough night,” Zgunda said. “The positive is, our defense just didn't give an inch …

“And our line on both did great. Those guys don’t get any love, but that was the key of the game.”