JAY – Jordan Conant was emphatic about a number of things – how his offensive line protected him, how well his receivers ran their patterns – following Winthrop’s 26-20 win over Jay at Taglienti Field Friday night. But he was most emphatic about the statement that win made.

“It’s a huge win. It’s a huge morale booster for the team,” the junior quarterback said. “And it shows everybody that Winthrop football is back.”

Tough to argue with a 3-0 start and a road win over the previously unbeaten Tigers. The Ramblers had to rally, though, from a 14-8 halftime deficit, and got some big defensive stops when they needed them in the fourth quarter.

“Once again, the defense came through for us,” Winthrop coach Joel Stoneton said. “And our kicking game was a huge advantage for us tonight. They had horrible field position and we were able to pin them with that.”

Nick Bourassa (12 carries, 154 yards) scored all three Jay touchdowns, including one on a 44-yard interception return on the game’s second play. He now has 10 on the season.

But the Ramblers were able to shut down him and the Jay passing game for the game’s turning point.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Jordan DeMillo scooped up a fumbled pitch in the Winthrop backfield at midfield and ran it back to the Rambler 20. But the defense held Bourassa to a 1-yard gain, forced two incompletions by Jay QB Austin Clark, then Ray Linck and Frank Glazier sacked Clark on fourth down to end the threat.

“I think that was the biggest play of this game,” said Winthrop tight end/defensive end Kevin Hart. “We had a couple of errors on offense, some penalties, but luckily we have a strong enough line and good enough quarterback and running backs to make it work.”

“We had some momentum there and that definitely brought it back in their direction,” Jay coach Mark Bonnevie said.

Winthrop only got as far as its own 40 on the ensuing possession, but Conant boomed a 50-yard punt to pin Jay (2-1) back to its own 10. The Tigers went three-and-out, and Clark’s punt traveled just 12 yards before going out of bounds, setting up the Ramblers at the 27.

Winthrop wanted to strike quick and did just that when Conant hooked up with Jason Raymond near the left front pylon for what proved to be the winning touchdown with 6:30 to go.

“That was a fade, and he got one step on him. I put it to the outside where only he could get it, and he made that catch,” Conant said. “My offensive line had the greatest game of their life, and I’m so proud of them.”

Conant struggled in the first half, completing just 1 of 11 attempts (with three drops). Bourassa picked off his first attempt and ran down the near sideline to put the Ramblers in a quick hole.

With Conant struggling to find a rhythm, Winthrop relied on its running game to get the offense going. They started at their own 47 for their first scoring drive, a 10-play journey that Skyler Whaley capped with a 1-yard TD plunge. Conant connected with Andrew Smithgall on the two-point conversion to give the Ramblers the lead with 7:49 left in the second quarter.

It was a short-lived lead. Jay needed just two plays to respond, with Bourassa scampering 65 yards on a sweep to the right, to make it 14-8.

Winthrop tied it up again on its first possession of the second half, helped again with prime starting field position, the Jay 41. Whaley ran up the middle from five yards to make it 14-14. But Bourassa answered quickly again, this time with a 47-yard scoring run on a counter criss-cross on Jay’s next series to make it 20-14. The Tiger offense never drove past midfield the rest of the night.

Winthrop got the game-tying touchdown on the ensuing possession. Conant spotted Zach Farrington on a hitch-and-go to the right side and completed a 41-yard pass to the junior transfer from Mt. Blue to knot it at 20-20 with 3:46 to go in the third.

“He just got over the top, got one step on him, and I just put it up there,” Conant said. “He just went up and got it. He made a great play on that.”