Explosive opposition

NEW CASTLE — A cannon and fireworks highlighted pregame activities just beyond the south end zone.

When the Trojans touched the ball for the first time, they exploded as well.

Jay County High School moved the ball well on its first drive before getting stopped on fourth-and-inches, and New Castle responded with a first-play touchdown en route to handing the Patriots a 35-0 defeat Saturday.

“I think it's just a building block,” said JCHS coach Eddie Fields. “We talked about this game being a test of where we're at. We know we’ve got to grow. We already knew that going in, but now we kind of see how much more we got to grow.

“We'll get on the film and see there's a bunch of stuff that if we execute, we have a better chance.

“Just a bad day.”

The Patriots (1-1) took the opening kickoff, picked up a couple of first downs and moved the ball to the New Castle 34-yard line on a 3-yard pass from quarterback Nick Laux to receiver Aiden Phillips. There were just inches to go for the first down.

“We’re moving it, moving it, moving it, methodic, doing what we’re supposed to,” said Fields. “Then we get a fourth-and-1 and called a freeze play, which we hadn’t practiced enough.”

The idea was to try to draw the Trojans offside, but instead the ball was snapped and Laux was stopped short.

“It’s on me, just poor preparation,” said Fields. “That kind of set off kind of a downfall.”

Quarterback Carson Bell of the Trojans handed off on the first play to Luke Sherrell, who broke through the Jay County defensive line. All that remained in front of him was turf. Sherrell breezed 66 yards to the end zone — an explosive run that resulted in more fireworks set off along Trojan Lane.

Following a three-and-out for the Patriots and a short punt, New Castle needed just three plays to reach the end zone again. Sherrell picked up 15 yards and then Bell scrambled left and fought off a tackle attempt near the goal line to make it in for a 14-0 lead.

JCHS struggled to find much offensively, as 40 of its 79 yards in the first half came on the opening drive. It went three-and-out four times and had one drive stall out with another miss on a fourth-down attempt at the 24-yard line.

“We had to make some adjustments,” said NCHS coach Kyle York. “We did some different things with how we were covering guys on the back end that allowed our linebackers to play a little bit faster to the run. Those were the adjustments and it seemed to work, and it seemed to give us … a few more hats around the football.”

Photo Gallery

JCHS football vs. New Castle (08/30/2025)

The Trojans (1-1), meanwhile, tacked on two more touchdowns late in the second quarter. Sherrell ran in a 2-yarder at the 2:38 mark and Hall found Darin Reynolds down the left sideline for a 33-yard score with 1:19 remaining.

Often working with a short field — the Patriots had four punts of 20 yards or fewer — New Castle needed just 13 plays for its 181 yards and four touchdowns in the opening half. It scored on drives of 66, 30 (twice) and 33 yards.

The win was big for the Trojans, who lost two players in the opening week to season-ending injuries and will now open Hoosier Heritage Conference play against Pendleton Heights (2-0).

“Our team's been through a lot of adversity the first couple of weeks,” said York. “So I'm real proud of how our team responded … We’ve got good players left that have to step up.”

Jay County’s defense fared a bit better after the break as it limited the Trojans to 99 yards, but a running clock was in effect following Trent Supinger’s 7-yard TD that put the home team up by five touchdowns late in the third quarter.

Sherrell racked up 108 yards on just six carries, adding rushes of 15, 24 and 34 yards to his long scoring run. Bell completed 9 of his 16 pass attempts for 156 yards, hitting five receivers.

It was a reversal of fortunes for the Patriots, who clobbered Blackford 56-6 in the opening game of the season. They managed just 115 yards of total offense, with 11 rushes going for negative yards. Leighton Brown’s 49 yards on 21 carries led the team, while Laux completed five passes for 43 yards.

“We've got to be able to get the ball where they're not, and we got to be able to make them pay when they're not there,” said Fields. “Sometimes you get to win the one on one, and we weren't able to do that … 

“When we got lined up right, we did well,” he added of the defense. “I felt like our guys did a good job of being physical in the front.”