Eagles take control of conference with win against Tiger Cubs

South Putnam's Lucas Lorian outruns a diving Alec Pettit (48) to score a 51-yard touchdown during the fourth quarter against Greencastle on Friday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

South Putnam flexed it football muscles Friday night, defeating county and conference foe Greencastle 41-29 in a rain-soaked contest.

In what was billed by many fans as the unofficial West Central Conference championship game, South Putnam utilized its passing game for a 21-point second quarter that helped spur the team on to victory.

The win moves South Putnam to 4-1 overall and a perfect 2-0 in the WCC. Greencastle drops to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

Although his team is known for its running ability, South Putnam head coach hopes Friday's performance puts to bed the talk about his squad being a one dimensional team.

"I'm very, very proud of our kids," Burgess said. "What an effort tonight under the conditions. We turned the ball over a little bit, but we continued to fight back.

"People talk about us being one dimensional all the time. I felt we proved tonight that we could throw the football and when we needed to run it late in the game, we were able to run it and get some tough yards."

Turnovers would prove key in the outcome of the game and GHS head coach Josh Buis noted that's simply something you can't do against a quality opponent.

"It was two good football teams playing," he said. "It's just a shame, in a game like this, you have to have a winner and you got to have a loser. It was two good football teams. You just can't have penalties and you can't turn the ball over and win against good football teams."

South Putnam eventually came out on top, but it was Greencastle who drew first blood. Senior quarterback Tyler Scott marched his team down the field, capping the drive with a 12-yard pass to sophomore Brandon Gierke for a touchdown.

The Eagles were unable to respond in the opening quarter, but exploded for 21 points in the second behind the arm of Sawyer Arnold. The senior play caller recorded two touchdown in the quarter. The first a 68-yard connection with senior Wes Riner and the second a 31-yard strike to senior Zane Yon. Senior fullback Joe Waters also added a two-yard score.

Greencastle senior Grant Mundy strips the ball from South Putnam freshman Kyle Shaffer on a kickoff return on Friday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

Greencastle scored when Scott hooked up with Nathan Tesmer in the endzone, but found itself down 21-13 at the break. It kept the pressure on the Eagles, outscoring them 10-6 in the third quarter and took a one-point advantage, 29-28, at the 9:12 mark of the fourth quarter.

From there it was all South Putnam.

Three plays following the Greencastle touchdown, Lorian broke through the GHS defensive line, went over and around a few defenders and found paydirt 51 yards later to put his team up for good at 34-29.

With the Tiger Cubs still within striking distance, South Putnam went on an 11-play drive that used up a lot of clock and ended when Lorian bulldozed his way in from one-yard out to seal the victory with 59 seconds remaining it he contest.

As his team left the field holding the county Bucket high, Burgess knew how good of a win his team got on the night.

"I take my hat off to Greencastle," he said. "That is one big, strong football team. Film doesn't do them justice. I was talking on the sideline. Man, they are as big as some small colleges up front. They are big, strong and physical and they've got a good football team."

On the opposing side line, Buis commended the effort of his offensive line, but acknowledged, when a team turns the ball over, a win is something that's very hard to come by.

"Our offensive line did some good things tonight. Alec Pettit ran the ball hard. We did a good job covering them up, but ultimately when you put the ball on the ground, throw picks, you have penalties -- it's hard to overcome that," he said.

Arnold led the Eagles with 219 yards passing and three touchdowns. Lorian added 160 yards and two scores of his own. Burgess said the balance his squad has displayed on Friday is something that distinguished it from last year's squad.

"I said last week, I feel like that's the difference in our team this year," Burgess said. "We can do some things we couldn't do last year. Our passing game is better than what people give us credit for and that's a tribute to Sawyer.

"Our pass blocking is better and we have kids that can make plays. Wes Riner gets in space, he's tough to catch. He is fast."

Burgess was also quick to note that the success of his quarterback and tailback begins with his offensive line.

"What a great job by our offensive line," he said. "The normal guys in there -- Jacob Williams, Lane Hacker moving down to center; Joey Masters and Morgan Grundlock. Then to have Rudy Harris step in there and do what he did.

"Kraig Sargent," he said smiling. "We had a lineman hurt ever play it seemed like and Kraig is playing right guard, left guard -- but he's a senior and I'm proud of what he did."


South Putnam senior Nathan Criss (left) raises the Putnam County Bucket after Friday's game as sophomore Joey Masters cheers. Criss missed the game against Greencastle with an injury. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

The team played with a heavy heart as starting center Nathan Criss was lost to a knee injury and spent the evening on the sideline in street clothes. The SPHS coach said Criss might not have been on the field, but he helped motivate his fellow Eagles from the sideline.

Before calling it a night and hitting the locker room, Burgess had one more person he wanted to heap praise on -- his defensive coordinator Nathan Aker.

"Defensively, Coach (Nathan) Aker had a plan, buddy," Burgess said. "He had a game plan, our kids followed it and you're not going to shut out a team like Greencastle. They're good, darn good. I thought our team followed Coach Aker's game plan and did a super job."

Greencastle will look to rebound when it hosts North Putnam Friday. Buis said he'll be keeping an eye on his team this week and what they're made of.

"It's been a long time, two years, since this team has lost in the regular season. This is the first loss dating back through last year week one against Monrovia. It's going to be interesting to see how we respond."

Scott led the Tiger Cubs with 179 passing yards and two scores, with Pettit leading the rushing attack with 139 yards and two touchdowns.

South Putnam will host Cloverdale Friday, with Greencastle hosting North Putnam. Both contests with begin at 7 p.m.

At South Putnam
Greencastle.............7 6 10 6 -- 29
South Putnam........0 21 7 13 -- 41