The Sabetha Bluejay football team debuted at home on Friday, Sept. 8, against the Big Seven League rival Holton Wildcats before a large crowd. The Jays did not disappoint the fans as they deployed a dominating run game combined with a stiff defense to win the game, 24-8.

The Jays moved to 2-0 with the win, which displayed a balanced offense attack featuring seniors Chase Frey and Colin Menold toting the ball and junior quarterback Mitchel Kramer connecting on short passes to keep the Wildcats on their heels. All of the scoring for the game took place in the first half as both defenses stiffened in the second half to keep both teams off of the board.

The Jay defense set the tone for the game early as they held the Wildcats to a three and out on the first series of the game. Holton’s first punt of the game ended up with negative yardage and the Jays were set up for business on the visitor’s 27-yard line. With a first down on the 16-yard line, Frey sprinted into the end zone and senior Nate Menold knocked the extra point through the uprights to give the Jays the 7-0 lead, with seven minutes, 36 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

The Wildcats bounced right back and marched the ball down to the Jay 26-yard line, but the Jay defense held the Wildcats on downs and took over the ball. In a call that set the tone of the game for the Jays, Head Coach Garrett Michael made the decision to go for a fourth and one on their own 31-yard line that resulted in a first down. The Jays marched down inside the Wildcat red zone, but the Wildcat defense stiffened and the Jays sent out N. Menold for a short field goal that extended the lead to 10-0 early in the second quarter.

Holton took the kickoff and used a 46-yard pass play to move down the field and ran the ball in from nine yards out for a touchdown.

The successful two-point conversion made the game 10-8 with eight minutes, 33 seconds left in the half. That would be as close as the Wildcats would get as the Jay defense kept the visitors off the board for the rest of the game. The Jays took the kickoff and used a balanced attack with running and passing to reach the end zone with a 12-yard pass to N. Menold to extend the lead to 17-8 with five minutes, 51 seconds to go in the half.

Once again, the Jay defense held the Wildcats to a three and out and the home team took over on their 27-yard line with less than four minutes to go in the half. Kramer keyed the last drive of the half with an impressive 25-yard end around keeper to give the Jays a first down on the Wildcat 37-yard line. Kramer hit N. Menold with a pass down to the 12-yard line and Colin Menold powered in from the five-yard line to extend the lead to 24-8 following the extra point.

The second half was scoreless as both defenses rose to the occasion to keep each other out of the end zone. The defining point for the Jay defense came midway through the fourth quarter with the Wildcats having a fourth and one on the Jay three-yard line. The Jays stuffed the run play and took over on downs and ran out the final seven minutes of the game to prevail, 24-8.

The Jay offense racked up 257 yards on 41 carries, with C. Menold getting 80 yards on 14 carries and C. Frey getting 135 yards on 18 carries. Kramer finished the game 9 of 14 passing with 100 yards.

“We were pleased with our mindset, to open the game,” said Head Coach Garrett Michael. “Our defense played lights out against an office that is very very hard to contain. The fourth and one stop, inside their five-yard line, shows our team grit. Offensively, we were pleased, as we came away with points on every first half possession. We left some scoring opportunities out there in the second half, but we will clean those up as the year goes on. We are very pleased how we’ve started off the season. Dominating against two of the top teams in our league year in and year out.”

The Jays will travel to Jeff West on Friday, Sept. 15, for the next contest.