By JOHN D’ABRUZZO

ncsports@ncnewsonline.com

Jajuan Jay has learned his lesson.

The New Castle High junior football player knows what can happen when you horse around during summer camp. He did just that and ended up becoming the Red Hurricane’s place-kicker.

“I was messing around and (the coaches) saw me kicking,” Jay said. “At first, I didn’t even like to kick; it’s all right now.”

“We were looking for a kicker,” New Castle coach Frank Bongivengo Jr. said. “We’ve been spoiled because we’ve had kickers here for 10 years.

“One day he was messing around, and we were, ‘Whoa, what a minute.’ So we threw him in there, sort of by default, and he ended up with the kicking duties.”

Jay’s foot was crucial during the ’Canes’ 55-49 WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinal victory against Indiana. He converted 7 of 7 extra-point attempts.

Jay, a 6-foot, 160-pound receiver, also scored on a 24-yard reception in the final second of the first half. He outmaneuvered Indiana’s Kevin Stapleton for the ball and helped New Castle pull even at 28.

“Going into the game, a lot of people were doubting us,” Jay said. “We thought we were going to come in and run the table; it was a big win for us.”

For his performance, Jay is Lawrence County’s Athlete of the Week, as selected by The New Castle News sports staff. The award is sponsored by Washington Centre Physical Therapy.

“Coming into the game, they (the coaches) told me that we’re going to need every point to win,” Jay said. “I practiced all week and took pride it that.”

His coach was pleased.

“Every point’s critical,” Bongivengo said. “He’s been struggling and he lost come confidence for a while, but as of late he’s been kicking extra points very well.

“Seven-for-seven is a great job in that kind of battle because you never know what can happen and one point could be the difference.”

His touchdown was also crucial.

“That was a great job,” Bongivengo said. “He worked around and behind the defensive back and then when (quarterback Michael Bongivengo) threw the ball, he just turned, squared his shoulders and came running back to it. He ran right by the kid and took it away from him.”

“It really wasn’t intended for me,” Jay said. “I just saw the ball. I went for it and there were two guys there, so I just had to snatch it.”

Jay ranks third in the county in receiving with 29 catches for 491 yards and is fourth in scoring with eight touchdowns and 27 extra points for a total of 103 points.

“Jajuan’s an athlete,” Bongivengo said. “He has great athleticism and I don’t believe he’s reached his full potential yet. He’s our playmaker at wide receiver.

“He’s scored a lot of touchdowns, made a lot of long catches, made some nice runs after the catch. When he gets the ball in his hands, he makes great things happen.”

New Castle (8-3) will meet top-seeded Thomas Jefferson (10-1) in the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Chartiers Valley High School.

“We’re just going to prepare like we always do,” Jay said. “Just because they’re No. 1 in the WPIAL (and PIAA), doesn’t mean a thing. We have to play them just like we did everybody else.”