DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
FLATROCK – Friday night’s highly-anticipated rematch between the Heritage Patriots and the Adams Central Jets lived up to the hype, as the home Patriots won the game on an overtime touchdown that trumped an earlier AC field goal, ending the game on a walk-off Sawyer Thiele run, 20-17.
The story of the game was, without a doubt, the Heritage defense. Not only did they hold the always-tough Adams Central offense to a measly 168 yards of total offense, they also created the two most-important moments of the game.
After taking an early lead at the end of the first quarter on a Jax Litchfield touchdown, coach Waslyk’s defense created a turnover and points when Garrett Oliver scored on a pick-six.
In the overtime, they came up with the stop they needed when the Jets started with the ball, forcing coach Mosser to kick a field goal.
The victory advanced the Patriots to the sectional championship game against Bluffton in 3A sectional 27 next Friday.
The Jets (enrollment 414) should be one of the biggest fish in the 2A Indiana pond, but the IHSAA success factor has both the Jets and recent rival Andrean up a class and playing in 3A.
Ironically, the two teams who will be playing in the championship game, Bluffton (enrollment 548) and Heritage (565), are two of the smallest 3A schools in Indiana.
After trailing by 14 points early in the game, the Jets were forced to throw the ball. They got back into the game with a 51-yard pass to Ashton Yergler just before halftime and Roach did not go down without a fight, leading his team on a game-tying, 15-play drive of 81 yards to tie it at 14-14 with five minutes to play.
The Jets had an opportunity to win it in regulation, but could not capitalize, instead settling for overtime.
Both teams struggled to move the sticks, with Heritage edging Adams Central in first downs by a 10-9 margin. With the lead for nearly the entirety of regulation, the Patriots attempted just one pass.
Heritage out-gained AC 185 to 168.
Perhaps the most damning statistic, or the most emblematic for the Heritage defense, was the 2 for 14 count of third-down conversions for the Jets, who were forced into five fourth-down tries (they made four of them).
The Jets leading rusher was Xander Schwartz with 23 yards. Sawyer Thiele led the Patriots with 71. Jax Litchfield had 63.
Jami Roach was 3 of 10 for 93 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Brady Boyle was involved in ten tackles for the Patriots, while Nolan Bowers had six solos, two sacks and two more tackles for loss.
SCORING SUMMARY
Quarter One
:57 – H – Jax Litchfield 8-yd carry, Siddiq PAT good, 7-0
Quarter Two
11:34 – H – Garrett Oliver 21-yard interception return, Siddiq PAT good, 14-0
2:39 – AC – Ashton Yergler 51-yd catch from Jamison Roach, Braylen Cowans PAT good, 14-7
Quarter Three
No Scoring
Quarter Four
5:33 – AC – Colston Pruitt 27-yd catch from Jamison Roach, Cowans PAT good, 14-14
FIRST OVERTIME
AC – Braylen Cowans 21-yd field goal, 14-17
H – Sawyer Thiele 10-yd carry, 20-17
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