Cougars lose at Edgewood, first time in opener since '02

Saturday, August 24, 2013
North Putnam seniors Grant Bryan (5) sheds a pair of helpless tacklers during his rumble into the endzone during the first quarter against Edgewood on Friday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

ELLETTSVILLE -- The North Putnam football team opened its 2013 season on the road against the Edgewood Mustangs. The Cougars went home disappointed though losing 34-12.

It was the first time North Putnam lost its opening game since a 14-7 defeat at Crawfordsville in 2002

"First of all you have to look at this and you have to hate losing. Which I think these guys do," North Putnam head coach Greg Barrett said.

The Cougars scored first on a 22-yard pass from senior Gabe McFadden that bounced off of a couple hands and went straight to senior Grant Bryan, who in turn bounced off four tackles to plow into the end zone as time expired in the first quarter for the first score of the 2013 season.

"We scored first but we just let it slip away, we know what we need to do to get better," Barrett stated.

The Cougars lead didn't last for long as the Mustangs would take the lead with 9:24 left in the half when Mustang junior Zach Harrison bowled in from four yards out, the first of his three scores on the night.

No more points would be found that quarter as the score went to halftime with Edgewood leading 8-6.

Edgewood started scoring in the third and just couldn't stop. The first came on a 10-yard run by Harrison and the second on a two-yard quarterback sneak by junior Nate Ganz. The period ended with a 21-6 lead and on a fumble by sophomore Brad Hodges.

Edgewood converted on the opportunity and on the first play in the fourth quarter Harrison outraced everyone 39 yards to the endzone to put the Mustangs up 27-6. He finished with more than 200 yards in the game.

North Putnam senior Garrett Plessinger capitalized on a very good performance with a three-yard push to cut the Mustang lead to 27-12 with 6:54 left in the game.

All of the Cougar momentum was lost on a blazing-fast touchdown run by Edgewood senior Jackson Snyder that went for 69 yards and put them up 34-12, a score that stood until the final second ticked off the clock.

The Cougars had trouble with the little things like penalties and turnovers all night long racking up 12 penalties and four turnovers.

"We just had too many mental mistakes tonight, fumbles, penalties, that just really killed us," Barrett said.

The Cougars hope to build on the very strong performances by Bryan, Plessinger, McFadden and fellow seniors Beau Green and Ben Wiatt. Bryan led all defenders with 15 total tackles.

The Cougars look to work hard in practice this week and hopefully prove a tougher test for their opponent next week.

"I think this group is going to respond. I'm very excited about this group of guys we have," Barrett said.



At Edgewood
North Putnam 6 0 0 6 -- 12
Edgewood 0 8 13 13 -- 34

1st Quarter:
0:00 -- NP: McFadden to Bryan 22 yards, (PAT no good) 6-0 NP

2nd Quarter:
9:24 -- EW: Harrison run 4 yards (West run good), 8-6

3rd Quarter:
8:02 -- EW: Harrison run 10 yards (PAT no good), 14-6
1:37 -- EW: Ganz run 2 yards (PAT good), 21-6

4th quarter
11:48 -- EW: Harrison run 39 yards (PAT no good), 27-6
6:54 -- NP: Plessinger run 3 yards (McFadden pass failed), 27-12
5:50 -- EW: Snyder run 69 yards (PAT good), 34-12

Individual Stats

North Putnam:

Passing: McFadden- 14-29, 127, 1 TD, 2 INT, Hodges 0-1

Rushing: Plessinger 7-51, Green 6-25, Hodges 2-15, Bryan 4-15, Belcher 3-4, McFadden 3- -6

Receiving: Green 4-57, Bryan 4-29, Plessingger 2-20 1 TD, Belcher 1-6

Tackles (-solo): Bryan 15-2, Plessinger 11-3, Wiatt 9-1, Hodges 7-2, Riggen 6-0, Green 5-3, Pollock 5-0, Bingham 4-4, Land 3-1, Smith 3-0, Munns 2-1, Conlin 2-0,

Fum Rec: Riggen 1.

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