Defense dominates

WOODBURN — The Patriots had some offensive blunders.

At one point, the Warriors stripped the ball and took it 98 yards to take a lead.

Later, the Patriots were forced to punt after a 20-yard completion on fourth-and-10 was called back for a holding penalty.

While the offense had some hiccups, the defense was always there to cover for the mistake.

The Jay County High School football team’s defense created a trio of turnovers and only allowed the Woodlan Warriors 48 yards of offense as the Patriots picked up their first Allen County Athletic Conference win of the season 21-7 on Friday night.

Along with it being JCHS coach Eddie Fields’ first ACAC victory, it snapped a four-game losing streak for the Patriots (2-4, 1-3 ACAC).

“My best friend always says, ‘Hey, winning is the best deodorant,’” Fields said. “It’s going to make everything feel better. I’ve told our kids that they’ve been a little frustrated, all of us have, the coaches as well, I’m sure the community as well, but when you win you can celebrate a little bit. … They played a great game.”

Jay County entered the second half down 7-6, but forced the Warriors (1-5, 0-4 ACAC) to go three-and-out on the first possession of the third quarter. JCHS got the ball moving well, but were forced to punt after a 20-yard reception by Aiden Phillips was called back for holding to force a fourth-and-20.

Jay County stopped Ashtin Jacquay one yard behind the line of scrimmage before the Patriots blew up the next play to force a fumble.

JCHS defensive coordinator Tim Millspaugh credited Aiden Phillips for getting the play started and putting pressure on WHS quarterback Griffin Clear for multiple downs leading up to the fumble.

    JCHS quarterback Nick Laux breaks through the line to score an 11-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of Friday’s 21-7 beating of the Woodlan Warriors. Laux scored twice to give Jay County its second victory on the season and first for coach Eddie Fields in the Allen County Athletic Conference. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

“I pinched, (which is when) the guard goes down, I’m hitting him and shooting up to the running back,” Phillips said.

Once the ball was loose, Blake Bonifas came in to secure the ball for the Patriots 13 yards away from the end zone.

“They started double-teaming me at the end,” Bonifas said. “So I was kinda preparing to bull rush through both the guard and the tackle. But the tackle dropped to me and I just jumped to his inside and ripped under him, heading for the quarterback. The ball went loose out of his arm and I just picked it up.”

A pair of rushes by quarterback Nick Laux — he finished with 53 yards on the ground and another 48 in the air — got Jay to the 9-yard line. He connected with Brady Jetmore on the next play and rushed in the 2-point conversion to go ahead of Woodlan 14-7.

“They didn’t have any outside linebacker or anything, just a single receiver on my side,” Jetmore said. “I know Nick’s going to get the ball to me on a slant. We work on it so much in practice …

“It’s just momentum. We know we can beat this team. After that fumble recovery, getting a touchdown and getting that lead, it just pumped everybody up.”

Jetmore did not have an emotional hangover from his touchdown, as he came right back out onto the field for his defensive duties. Five plays later, he leaped up to snag a pass from Clear intended for Liam Hertig.

The pickoff set up a 12-play, 52-yard drive that ended with Laux punching the ball in with a 14-yard keeper.

Jetmore came back and intercepted one final ball on the right sideline on a deep pass again intended for Hertig.

The three turnovers helped hold WHS to only 28 offensive plays, while Jay County had 61.

The Patriots secondary and linebackers locked in for Woodlan’s final full drive, forcing a turnover on downs with four incompletions. (The Warriors got the ball back with 27.6 seconds remaining but elected to kneel out the clock.)

Jay County started a little slow on offense as it opened with a wing-T formation, but spread out in the second quarter to move the offense better. Despite finally getting the ball moving, Woodlan’s Hertig stripped the ball from Garrett Bennett at the 2-yard line and took the ball all the way to the house for its lone score.

After the Warriors’ score, Jay County came back on a 12-play drive that included nine rushes by Leighton Brown — he led the team with 128 yards on 30 carries — before Laux scored on an 11-yard keeper.

“Both of those packages are important and will help us win football games eventually against good teams,” Fields said. “When we were in (the T wing), they just over packed it and we tried to throw it out of there and couldn’t protect it.

“So we had to get into our regular stuff so we could protect and throw it. But Leighton Brown ran the ball hard tonight in both those packages.”