JAY — It came down to a little razzle dazzle in the drizzle.

The Jay Tigers pulled a play out of the old trick bag Friday night and debuted it at just the right moment. The halfback pass caught the Winthrop defense and stunned the unbeaten Ramblers with 1:36 left in the game. Jordan D. Couture connected with Jake Bessey on the 51-yard play that lifted the Tigers to a 16-12 victory.

“It was awesome,” said Bessey. “It was my first touchdown ever against an undefeated team.”

Jay had led most of the game but watched the Ramblers take the lead with 5:00 left. When Andrew Stearns recovered a fumble at the 50 with 2:30, it gave the Tigers one last chance.

“I said in the huddle, ‘We have to fight for every inch and every yard,'” said Bessey. “This is where a true competitor comes out.'”

The win gives the Tigers (5-2) a needed boost up the Western C standings toward the playoff spot while handing the Ramblers (6-1) their first setback of the year.

“It’s a big win,” said Jay coach Mark Bonnevie. “It’s all about getting to the playoffs. This is one step towards that. It doesn’t guarantee anything but it another step.”

After getting possession at midfield, the Tigers lost a yard on a Couture rushing play. He finished with 89 yards on 17 carries. That play set up the game-winner. To that point, Jay had just two first downs and had not completed a pass.

“I saw on first down that the free safety was starting to cheat up a little bit,” said Bonnevie. “I figured we’d run toss and he’d come up and take a chance. On second down, we still had two downs left, and I still had two timeouts left. We figured this was the time.”

It was a play the Tigers had worked on in practice but had never used in a game situation. When Bonnevie called the play, Couture said he felt good about its chances.

“I was confident,” said Couture. “I felt like we were executing all night. This was the time for that play.”

Couture got the ball from quarterback Zach Bonnevie and rolled right. The Rambler defense was in hot pursuit. Bessey knew he could get open and found himself free behind the defense.

“I got the ball and saw a wall of guys coming at me,” said Couture. “I couldn’t really see my receiver. I just tossed it up. He was there and luckily grabbed it and ran.”

Once Bessey had the reception, the only question was whether he’d be able to outrun the defenders in the sloppy conditions. He had a Rambler on his back and others giving chase.

“I was just running as hard and as fast as I could,” said Bessey. “I kept looking down and saw a guy’s shadow coming from behind me. So I knew he was there. I had to hold the ball tighter and got in for the touchdown.”

Winthrop still had over a minute left but couldn’t muster a comeback.

“Obviously this stings,” said Winthrop back Ryan Conant, who led the Ramblers with 94 yards on 26 carries. “You never want to lose, but we know it’s probably something we can use to help make us better in the future.”

The Ramblers had taken the lead thanks to a big play of its own. Facing fourth-and-11, quarterback Travis Luce found Hunter Sherman for a 15-yard pass play.

“That was such a nice catch,” said Conant. “That’s one of our go-to plays. Coach said that Hunter had been open all game and it was time to look for him right there.”

Conant rolled in from the right side on the next play for 11 yards and the score with 5:00 left. Jay stuffed the conversion run, making it 12-8.

“They were putting seven or eight guys in the box every play,” said Conant. “They were stuffing it up the gut, and we knew we had to switching things up.”

Jay took the lead with 1:33 left in the first quarter when Couture burst through the line of scrimmage and bounced off tacklers for a 56-yard scoring run. Bill Calden rushed the conversion for the 8-0 lead.

Jay’s defense proved tough and even stuffed the Ramblers on fourth-and-three early in the game. Winthrop began to wear down the defense and win the battle of field position. Conant scored with 2:36 left in the half with a two-yard run to make it 8-6.

kmills@sunjournal.com