Long shots lift Jay

A four-game skid with three of those losses by a single goal had the Patriots reeling.

Losing a pair of starters, one for the season, was not helping the cause.

A long strike from a junior leader got a spark going.

Emmitt Reynolds and Jaxson DeHoff each found the net on long shots Thursday night as the Jay County High School boys soccer team broke through for a 3-1 victory over the visiting Bellmont Braves.

“That's a good win,” said JCHS coach Rodney Reynolds. “We definitely needed it. We've been down a stretch, but moved some people around. I felt a lot more comfortable. … Shots were better. Passing still, we’ve got to work on. ,,.

“I thought we played really well today. I wish we could have scored a few more. I think we could have. But besides that … we're getting there. We're not there, but we're getting there.”

Coming off of a 6-1 loss Tuesday to Richmond — the team had also dropped games 4-3 to Anderson, 5-4 to Heritage and 3-2 to Yorktown during after a 4-1-1 start — the Patriots needed something to lift them.

Reynolds provided it.

At the 28:56 mark of the first half, the ball came his way about 30 yards out on the left side with Bellmont senior George Gardner defending.

“It was beautiful ball up top,” said Emmitt Reynolds. “I saw the kid coming at me. I Neymar-flicked over and decided to shoot one. Half-volleyed and it went back post.”

The shot fired up the Jay County squad, which gave its fans something to cheer about again just 30 seconds later.

Claiming possession after the kickoff, the Patriots (5-5-1) got the ball to freshman striker Jacoby Penrod. He pushed straight up the middle, victimizing Gardner on the way, and tapped a grounder to the left corner for a 2-0 lead with 28:26 on the clock.

The second long goal for JCHS came midway through the half, when Penrod dropped a ball back to DeHoff. He took the opportunity and hit a high shot to push the lead to three.

“I was wide open and coach has been screaming at us to take those shots,” said DeHoff, “so I just ripped it …”

The score stagnated for the next 45-plus minutes before Bellmont was able to break through. Luke Ruble of the Braves (1-11) pushed deep into the left corner and then passed across to senior Henry Faurote, who was able to get a shot to the left side past JCHS goalie Peyton Yowell.

Faurote had another opportunity from inside the box less than three minutes later, but Yowell held on to the blast into his mid-section to preserve the two-goal lead. Yowell also turned away a final opportunity off a Jake Jackman corner kick with 1:40 remaining.

“We start slow and it's just something we've been battling,” said Bellmont coach Jake Briede. “We just couldn't score. The Jay County keeper’s solid back there … We just needed to finish and he made some big saves.”

Reynolds complimented the players who had new duties Thursday with multiple players gone because of injuries. Rockland Beiswanger is out for the season and Blake Collins missed the game as well.

“We moved Brody Collins back, center defender, really did well back there,” said Rodney Reynolds. “I'm pretty proud of (the defense). … It’s two freshmen and a sophomore, and they're doing what they need to do. 

“We moved Eli (Mueller) back into a four spot, kind of plays right in front of the center defender. He was a striker, then he went to midfield and now he's back there. But he's got great ball control. … He can maneuver things around, and that's what we need. That's what we're after.”