At Jay’s expense

PONETO — It was the outpouring of over two years of catharsis.

Jubilant fans storming the field. Players leaping into the arms of friends and family. A band joyfully playing and cheers ringing out long after the final whistle.

It’s the type of scene that dreams are made of. And it happened at the Patriots’ expense.

The Jay County High School football team suffered a 21-14 defeat to the Southern Wells Raiders on Friday night. The Raider triumph snapped their 21-game losing streak dating back to 2023.

“When I first got this job, nobody thought that we could win,” said Southern Wells coach Blake Blaker, who took over before the 2024 season. “The kids didn’t believe it, the school didn’t believe it and we’ve done a really good job, my staff and the teachers and just the Southern Wells community, of kind of bringing life back to the program.”

The victory was Southern Wells’ (1-2, 1-0 Allen County Athletic Conference) first conference win since 2019. It was a painful defeat for Jay County (1-2, 0-1 ACAC), which started 2-1 or better in each of the last four seasons.

“It’s just a matter of preparation,” said Jay County coach Eddie Fields. “We had a weird week, I didn’t do a good enough job getting them ready.”

The Patriots’ lack of preparedness manifested on their opening drive, with a high snap sailing over quarterback Nick Laux’s head and being claimed by Southern Wells. The Raiders struck first later in the quarter, with Adam Aulbach pulling in a 17-yard heave from Trey Slusher with a one-handed snare to go up 7-0.

While the Patriots tied things up in the second quarter on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Laux to Carter Fugiett, the Patriots’ other three first-half drives after the fumble resulted in punts.

Fields shouldered the blame when it came to the offensive struggles.

“It was just not very consistent,” Fields said. “Just got to get them ready, I’ve got to prepare them better to be consistent. I think that’s 100% coaching. I didn’t do a very good job.”

With the game knotted up, the Raiders made a key shift in their backfield for the second half, moving starting quarterback Slusher to a full-time rushing role. Slusher had already spearheaded the ground attack in the opening half with 17 rushes for 37 yards after tailback Levon Goodnight was injured on Southern Wells’ first play from scrimmage.

“I saw a Nick Saban quote that said, ‘In critical moments, look to players, not plays,’” Blaker said. “And Trey Slusher’s our dude, and so we’re going to feed him the ball.”

Blaker was true to his word, as Slusher amassed 25 carries for 126 yards and two touchdowns in the second half alone.

His first score was a 4-yard rumble to cap off a methodical nine-play drive to open the third quarter that consumed nearly six minutes of clock.

His second score, early in the fourth quarter, was a 28-yard scamper on which he gained the edge and launched himself into the end zone to extend the Raider lead to 21-7.

    Logan Wendel hits Southern Wells tight end Joshua Aulbach during Jay County’s 21-14 loss to the Raiders on Friday. Aulbach had two catches for 26 yards, helping Southern Wells eclipse the 300-yard threshold of total offense. (The Commercial Review/Ethan Oskroba)

“My dad was an all-state running back and it’s just in my blood,” said Slusher, who was a full-time running back until he started playing quarterback during his sophomore year.

The Patriots scored one more time in the fourth, with Laux plunging into the end zone from 5 yards out to cut the deficit to seven.

After earning a stop, the Patriots had one final chance with the ball on their own 42 and just under three minutes to go. Three incompletions and a holding penalty promptly snuffed out the do-or-die drive, allowing Southern Wells to kneel out the clock.

For the Raiders, who hadn’t won a conference game in their last 25 tries, Friday’s victory was euphoric.

“For our kids, especially our seniors, man, they have worked so hard,” Blaker said. “To finally finish a game and just to get that monkey off our back feels so good.”

But in the Patriot camp, there will be plenty of work to do, especially with a battle with a vaunted Adams Central squad on tap next week. The Jets are ranked No. 1 in Class 2A and are coming off of a 41-13 win over Muncie Central.

“We better bounce back fast,” Fields said. “The big thing is consistency. We’ve made good football plays, we’ve done things well, but we’re going to have to do them against a really good football team next week, so we’ll see.”