Cougars, Eagles prepare for Friday night clash

The matchup on Friday between No. 6 South Putnam (2-1) and North Putnam (0-3) seems a bit lopsided on paper, but the two teams are no strangers to that scenario leading to an exciting or surprising game.

In the 2011 sectional championship game North Putnam entered undefeated and having beaten SPHS 48-6 during the regular season. The Eagles, led by their star tailback, won 40-22.

The Cougars don't have a lot of stars offensively who are capable of taking over a game like Rob Gibson did that year, but they have a chance to pull off the upset if they can slow down the new star Eagle, junior Lucas Lorian.

Through three games Lorian has gained 632 yards at 8.1 per carry and six touchdowns on the ground. He's a great back and he'll be tough to stop, but the Eagles are fairly one-dimensional. SPHS has run 147 rushing plays against just 31 passes.

While the Cougars don't have great speed, they have enough size to slow down the Eagles if they can keep the ground game contained in front of them.

In some ways the matchup on the other side of the ball creates more challenges. North Putnam runs a balanced offense that will prevent the Eagles from simply loading the box with nine defenders.

Senior quarterback Gabe McFadden has thrown for more than 100 yards in each of the Cougars' three games this year and his accuracy showed signs of improvement last week. South Putnam has enough athletes to play any style, but the Cougars will mix things up and try to keep the Eagles guessing.

NPHS hosts SPHS on Friday at 7 p.m.