Locked in late

WOODBURN — Last season, Jay County led Woodlan by a point with less than a minute to go. Jacob Snyder ripped off a 54-yard pass on fourth-and-8 to set up a game-winning score.

The scene was set nearly the same Friday night.

The Patriots were up by five points and Woodlan had the ball on its 27-yard line. The Warriors ran a fake play on which running back Drew Fleek laced the football to Jayse Kuntz for a 40-yard gain.

The pass-heavy offense was just 33 yards away from the end zone.

The Patriots refused to let a win slip away again.

A late-game interception and five rushing touchdowns helped the Jay County High School football team to a 34-29 win over the Woodlan Warriors in a mistake-filled game Friday night.

The win marks the first in school history for Jay County in 10 triest against Woodlan. It also moved the Patriots to four wins for the first time since 2018 and marks the first time they have been 4-2 since 2013.

“I’m just so proud of this team,” JCHS coach Grant Zgunda said. “We made a lot of mistakes and put ourselves in a hole. And a lot of teams don't come back from that. It shows the character of our players and their heart. And, man, when you got that on a football team, you got something.”

The game-ending stop capped off a strong second half for the Patriots.

The run wasn’t perfect. It started with what should have been a three-and-out, but turned into a Woodlan touchdown after Benson Ward touched a punt and couldn’t control it before the Warriors got to it. Eight plays later, the Warriors found the end zone on a 17-yard pass from Ty Louden to Carter Fleek to extend their lead to 29-14.

The Patriots didn't let it deflate them. Instead they answered with a score of their own.

A healthy diet of A.J. Myers rushes, one from Bryce Wenk and a pass interference call against Woodlan helped the Patriots find the end zone.

A quick stop, another six carries for Myers and a 14-yard pass from Sean Bailey to Wenk led to another score.

The Patriots’ sideline was buzzing.

Players and coaches alike were screaming two phrases.

“It’s not over yet!”

“Who wants it more?”

Jay County bought in.

One player in particular that took that to heart was sophomore Grant Wendel.

On the previous drive, Wendel got beat by Kuntz, leaving him wide open on fourth down. Luckily for Wendel, Kuntz didn’t bring the ball in, resulting in a turnover on downs.

On the next drive, the Patriots were down a point and Woodlan had the ball with seven minutes to go.

The Warriors were moving down the field when Louden lofted a ball up for Luke Meyer down the right sideline, but Ben Crouch found a way to deflect it. And Wendel was there to snag the ball for an interception. Six defensive plays after getting chewed out for getting burnt, he found himself in the perfect position to create a turnover and swing all momentum in the Patriots favor.

“I got up and just told everybody, ‘We’ve got the momentum and we’ve got three minutes to score,’” Wendel said. “We kept the momentum going and (Woodlan) was all hanging their heads from there.”

With the ball at the 44-yard line, Jay County knew what to do. It handed the ball off to Wenk once for 2 yards and Myers seven times for 42 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown.

From there the Patriots were able to put up the final stop and end the game on a knee.

“We needed one of these, and it’s nice to get it,” Zgunda said. “We're gonna keep banging away and we're gonna we're gonna keep working on all the mistakes and man when we put this all together, we're gonna be a tough team to beat.”

Woodlan simply could not stop Myers. In the second half, he was often powering through tackles for extra yards after contact.

He finished the game with 237 yards on 39 carries while cashing in all five touchdowns for the Patriots.

“I’m feeling great,” Myers said. “I’ve got to praise my O-line. I wouldn’t be anything without them. … I’ve got to buy my O-line dinner sometime.”