JAY — Once Jay High School got the fifth quarter of last week’s loss at Oak Hill out of the way Friday night, the Tigers were fine.

Problem is, when you spot Western Class C favorite Dirigo a three-touchdown lead before some of the home fans are finished washing down their tailgate grub, you might as well cash in the final three periods.

To Jay’s credit, the Tigers didn’t. But three lost fumbles in the opening stanza widened their eyes like a bad sequel of last Saturday’s turnover-troubled matinee. Holding on for dear life and playing hard until every whistle for the duration wasn’t enough to change the bottom line of a 34-12 Campbell Conference victory for the undefeated Cougars.

“I’ll tell you, when we fumbled the kickoff, it was like, ‘Oh, jeez, here we go,’ Who knows what would have happened if we hadn’t had that first quarter?” said Jay coach Mark Bonnevie, whose team committed six turnovers in last week’s loss.

Jay’s first miscue didn’t lead directly to Dirigo points, but the Cougars ultimately took advantage of the resulting change in field position.

Arik Fenstermacher pounced on a bad snap to turn a would-be Jay punt into Dirigo’s first touchdown.  

Dirigo (4-0) went 82 yards in 10 plays for its next score, a 21-yard scamper by Spencer Ross.

And Tyler Chiasson finished the quarter by stripping the ball out of Jay receiver Billy Calden’s hands after a probable first down at the Dirigo 17. Bryan Blackman’s impending 71-yard jaunt set up his own 2-yard plunge, and Chiasson’s extra point made it 21-0.

“We took advantage of what they gave us, but they can hit,” Chiasson said. “They probably played 19 or 20 kids, and they hit like a big squad. We definitely couldn’t take them lightly. They run with power.”

Jordan DeMillo (16 carries, 127 yards) spearheaded an authoritative drive for Jay (2-2) late in the second quarter, with a 21-yard run setting up Austin Clark’s TD on a 12-yard quarterback keeper. Dirigo stuffed DeMillo’s two-point try to protect a 21-6 lead at the half.

Bolstered by its big-play capacity through the first month of the season, Dirigo delivered the knockout punch with a long, grinding march to open the second half. Ross, Blackman, Chiasson and quarterback Nic Crutchfield shared the carries evenly on a 16-play, 80-yard journey that drained 7:33 from the clock.

Chiasson punched it in from a yard out.

“That’s a great drive,” said Dirigo coach Doug Gilbert. “The third quarter, we’ve been trying to come out and put one in early. We’ve been fortunate so far.”

Long rambles by DeMillo (24 yards) and Calden (17) set up a 3-yard DeMillo score to make it 28-12 with 9:25 left.

Again, Dirigo sapped seven minutes from the scoreboard. Having lured the Tigers into nine-in-the-box against his team’s running game, Crutchfield applied the exclamation point by hitting a wide-open Alex Miele for an 18-yard TD.

Ross (13 carries, 106 yards), Blackman (75 yards), Crutchfield (57) and Chiasson (51) fueled Dirigo’s thunder-and-lightning backfield. Fenstermacher, Miele, Kyle Hutchinson and Mason Cote were the most frequent hitters for the Cougars’ defense.

“It was mental errors for us that I wasn’t pleased with,” Gilbert said.

DeMillo and Tyler Dorr combined for 28 stops to lead a Jay defense that contained the Cougars to an uncharacteristic 4-for-13 through the air.

“We played hard until the end. We’ll be alright,” Bonnevie said. “We’ve got to get a win.”

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