WINTHROP — The Winthrop Ramblers discovered a new toy for their offense Friday night. Its arrival couldn’t have come at a better time.

After relying on their running game through the first six weeks of the season, the Ramblers displayed a big-play passing attack. Junior quarterback Travis Luce tossed for a touchdown and kept two scoring drives alive with a pair of key completions to lead the Ramblers to a 26-14 win over the Jay Tigers in a pivotal Campbell Conference football game.

Winthrop’s victory may have cemented a spot in the playoffs while the loss has Jay (3-4) on the outside, looking in.

“We needed a win,” said Winthrop coach Joel Stoneton. “Not just for the playoffs, but for the mentality of winning a game. We were able to see what we’re capable of. Jay’s a physical team. It’s a good win.”

The Tigers scored on their initial drive of the game. After stopping the Ramblers (4-3) on fourth down, the Tigers strung together an eight-play, 42-yard scoring drive. Quarterback Austin Clark connected with Kyle Storer for a 16-yard pass which helped set up fullback Jordan DeMillo’s 6-yard touchdown run.

Winthrop answered with a pair of scores in the second quarter. A 52-yard march, highlighted by a 13-yard run by Ryan Conant (17 carries for 111 yards) and an 11-yard scamper around the left end by Cory Harris (22 carries for 74 yards), was capped by a quarterback waggle by Luce who found tight end Cory Staples for a 5-yard score in the right hand corner of the end zone.

“That’s our number one pass play,” said Luce who completed six of 11 passes for 108 yards. “Coach talked passing to the flats all week long. He said they’d be open and he was right. The pass was there and (Cory) made the catch.”

“We worked on (defending) that pass all week long,” added Jay coach Mark Bonnevie. “They executed and we didn’t.”

On the Ramblers’ next drive they faced a 4th-and-16 situation from the Tiger 21. Luce calmly rolled to the left and with pressure in his face he found Staples along the sidelines for a 17-yard gain. The senior tight end hauled in the pass just beyond the sticks and was able to get a foot down before going out of bounds.

One play later, fullback Eric Duplessis went up the middle for a 4-yard score.

Jay came right back with a 72-yard drive in the final 1-minute and 28-seconds of the half to knot the score at 14-14. DeMillo (66 yards rushing) picked up 28 yards on three carries before Clark (71 yards rushing) kept the ball himself for a 3-yard score.

The Tigers moved the ball up and down the field in the second half, only to have two drives end inside the Ramblers’ five.

Luce meanwhile directed a pair of scoring drives in the third quarter with Conant finishing them both off on the ground. Two plays proved pivotal on the first march which covered 95 yards. One of which was a long count on fourth down which caused the Tiger defensive line to jump offsides for one first down. Another chain moving play was a 44-yard bomb down the right side from Luce to wideout Tyler Arsenault.

“We bonded as a team,” said Luce. “You need all 11 players to play as a team and tonight we did.”