Lapel tallies 42 in 24

LAPEL — Winning isn’t quite as simple as playing 48 minutes of football. It’s the amalgamation of years of work, weeks of practice and days of scouting.

The work the Bulldogs put in the weight room over the past four years sure showed during the 48 minutes on the gridiron with the Patriots.

The game was all but over by halftime as Jay County High School’s football team only managed 28 yards in the first half while the Class 2A No. 3 Lapel Bulldogs ran rampant for a 42-14 victory on Friday.

In the first half, the Patriots (2-6) finished with a net of 28 yards on 23 plays. They never sniffed the end zone as they only made it to Lapel’s side of the field on the opening drive when a squib kick hit a Bulldog before traveling 10 yards.

The Patriots procured three first downs in the opening 24 minutes, all on singular plays that traveled 10 or more yards.

So why did Jay County struggle to move the ball? The trenches.

“Lifting four years ago,” JCHS coach Eddie Fields said. “They’re big and strong and fast.

“Our offensive line has been way ahead of schedule this year. We haven’t given up a bunch of sacks and we’ve run the football well. Even when we were struggling before, our offensive line played well and that was their worst performance tonight.

“Those are big, strong, physical kids and we’re just not quite ready to play against them.”

The Bulldogs (8-0) moved the ball with ease. In total, Lapel racked up 42 points and 256 scrimmage yards on 32 plays.

“Our kids are always focused and that’s an awesome thing,” said LHS coach Tim Miller. “They come out every Friday ready to play and don’t take anybody lightly. … We’re a good all around football team.

“Offensively, Devon (Craig) threw 9,000 plus yards in his career. We run the ball pretty well too. Jack Miller is probably nearing 1,000 at this point. It was just another balanced effort and the kids took care of business.”

Craig carved up the Patriots’ defense, going 13-of-18 for 250 yards, including 194 in the first half.

While he only slung two touchdowns — both to Jaxson Cripe in the second quarter — he set up both of the first-quarter scores by tossing for 144 yards on the first two drives. Miller punched the ball into the end zone from the 1-yard line on both drives.

The only other scores in the first half came from a 46-yard fumble recovery by Mason Page and a 2-yard rush from Jacob Barker that was set up by Mason Kenemer blocking a Nick Laux punt.

Both of Jay County’s scores came in the second half after Lapel put its backups in the game.

The only touchdown by the Patriots’ offense came on the final drive when Laux hit Leighton Brown, who took the ball 14 yards to the left pylon.

JCHS also put seven on the board as Laux picked off Kole Kessler and brought the ball 96 yards back to the house. Fields highlighted Laux’s evening as the type of effort he’s looking for as the Patriots prepare to close out the regular season against Heritage and take on the sectional.

“We’ve got to go out there with kids who love playing football,” Fields said. “Nick Laux has been that kid from day one. He goes out and gets the (96) yards on the interception return and he’s playing safety after not being on defense to start the year. He’s also on kickoff because we need a guy who just loves football.

“He’s a breath of fresh air and we’ve got some other guys to start leaning towards that. It’s been a long year and some of our guys are down obviously. Nick has been a great leader and we need all of our guys to be doing that.”