Explosive second

PONETO — It was a tale of two halves for the Patriots.

The first they’d like to forget. The second they will hold onto.

An explosion in the third quarter helped turn a close game into a blowout as the Jay County High School football team defeated the Southern Wells Raiders 43-12 to pick up their first Allen County Athletic Conference victory and move to 3-0 for the first time since 1985.

Up by only a point at the break, Jay County needed to make some adjustments to its offensive scheme to pull away.

The Patriots stopped the Raiders’ opening drive of the second half after eight plays and blocked the punt to get the ball on their 22-yard line.

Over the span of five plays (and an offsides call against Southern Wells), Myers was able to run the ball into the end zone, capped off by an 8-yard rush at the 5:48 minute mark.

When the Patriots went for two, Sean Bailey connected with Bryce Wenk for the conversion.

“I thought our 2-point conversion to make it a nine point game was big,” JCHS coach Grant Zgudna said. “Rather than being a one score game, you're a two score game. … That was big because (the Raiders) are not built for quick scores. They don’t throw the ball very much.”

The next time Trey Slusher tried to throw the ball for the Raiders, it was a disaster.

On the prior drive, Slusher threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Bryar Gearheart. But it was taken away because of a penalty for an illegal block in the back.

Defensive back Justin DeHoff got an earful from the sideline for leaving Gearheart open on the play. During the drive following Jay County’s score, he made up for it.

Slusher was pressured by Bryce Wenk and Isaac Dues, causing him to misfire the ball. DeHoff zipped over to pick the pass off at the 40-yard line and take it into the end zone for a pick-six at 4:41.

“I messed up on that previous play and thought, ‘I can’t let that happen again,’” DeHoff said. “They ran the same play the opposite way, I saw ball and thought, ‘OK, this is it. Let’s do it.’”

The play shifted all remaining momentum into the Patriots’ favor.

Once again, Bailey and Wenk connected for the 2-point conversion.

The Patriots would score a third time in the quarter when Bailey and Wenk connected for a 7-yard passing touchdown with only 24.9 seconds left to give them a commanding 36-6 lead.

Wenk, who had missed the first two games, also had a 13-yard rushing touchdown with a minute left in the fourth quarter.

“I’m really happy to be back and turn things up for the football team,” Wenk said. “It feels amazing. I just really wanted to get in there and show the coaches and show the other team what I can do.”

Bailey was also lacing the football Friday. He finished 8-for-10 with 224 passing yards in the game. Two of his highlights came on a pair of 50-plus yard touchdowns — one to Benson Ward in the first quarter and another to DeHoff in the fourth.

“When the O-line blocks and the receivers are great athletes that find a way to get open every time, it makes my job easy,” Bailey said.

Gearheart scored the first touchdown for the Raiders on a 21-yard rush with 7:19 remaining in the first half. Joshua Aulbach missed the field goal to keep the game at 7-6 in favor of Jay County. Penalties and losing steam ultimately spelled Southern Well’s demise.

“It's one of those nights you're proud of your guys after, after a half, you know, and you're proud after a full game,” Southern Wells coach Jeff Sprunger said. “They came out, they played. We ran out of gas.”

Tucker Worster had the other Southern Wells touchdown when he rushed 90 yards with 6:14 when it was already too late.

While Zgunda thought his team came out a little flat, he took responsibility for the team not being fully ready at the start of the game. He also gave Southern Wells credit for switching things up to surprise the Patriots.

Despite the slow start, Zgunda was impressed with his team’s resolve to win and adaptability.

“Last year or the year before, I’m not sure how that would have went in the second half,” Zgunda said. “These guys just responded. It was immediate and we took over the game.”