Cougars season ends with loss at Knights 51-0

Saturday, October 26, 2013
North Putnam senior Tyler Land takes a carry around the outside, following his lead blockers, senior Grant Bryan (5) and senior Ben Wiatt, during a game earlier this season. Land had 33 yards on Friday in the loss to Lafayette Central Catholic. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

LAFAYETTE -- The North Putnam football team traveled to take on the Lafayette Central Catholic Knights in the first round of the Sectional 35 bracket.

The Cougars fought to contain the passing of the Knights and the rushing attack on the ground, but it was quickly clear the Knights were too much, advancing with a 51-0 win over the Cougars.

The senior class is one of the more accomplished in North Putnam history, being the last class that experienced the state championship game from the sidelines in 2010.

"This was a great group of seniors; great leadership from them," North Putnam coach Greg Barrett said. "They did a good job of teaching the younger kids how to work in the weight room, the classroom, and the community. Hopefully these young guys learn from that."

Barrett said even thought the season did not go the way that they had hoped, the things the kids learned about life was more important than winning every game or losing every game.

"Unfortunately the season did not go as we had hoped it would go, but that is the good thing about football, you learn about more than wins and losses. It's about building men for the future and I think this is going to be an outstanding group of young men," Barrett said.

North Putnam's offense really struggled against Central Catholic's defense, gaining only 88 yards of total offense in the game.

NPHS received the opening kick only to go three-and-out and punt the ball off to the Knights. The Knights returned the ball to the Cougar 2-yard line and two plays later quarterback Ty Preston snuck in from 1 yard out to put the first score on the board less than three minutes into the game.

The Knights forced three more three-and-outs to start the game and after each punt Central Catholic scored, the last coming on a 22-yard touchdown strike from Preston to Luke Fusiek with 47 seconds remaining in the quarter.

After allowing 28 points in the first quarter the Cougar defense seemed to figure out the Knight offense and in the second quarter held the Knight offense to only 14 points.

"They did a good job. They came out and played hard and did not ever quit," Barrett said. "It did not matter who they played, our kids played hard and I am proud of them."

The defensive star of the night was senior Grant Bryan who had 15 tackles along with an interception. Senior Beau Green and junior Nolan Ensor also added in five tackles.

North Putnam's first first down came in the second quarter when Bryan got the hand off and rumbled through the teeth of the Knight defense. After shredding a couple tackles and stiff-arming one, Bryan entered into Knight territory for the first time all night long and gained 14 yards, his longest carry of the night and the second longest off the game for the Cougars.

In the second half the Cougar defense really pulled it together and held the Knights to just one offensive score and one touchdown. That touchdown came midway through the third quarter when Preston threw a nice pass to Jackson Anthrop who scampered the remaining 15 yards to paydirt for a 23-yard touchdown pass. It was Anthrop's third touchdown of the night.

The last score was early in the fourth quarter when Central Catholic's defensive line got through and sacked senior quarterback Gabe McFadden in the backfield for a safety. That pushed the Knight's lead to 51-0, a score that stood to the final horn.

Even though the Cougars did not make a deep run into the playoffs, the North Putnam fans will be proud of the way that the team played the entire year. They never gave up, played as a team and with unity and most importantly, they kept their faith in each other.

North Putnam says goodbye to a great group of kids and welcome in a new class of players. North Putnam looks to capitalize on a senior class that led the underclassmen well and Barrett said he hopes this year's juniors will do the same for the underclassmen next year.

"You want to build a team that has unity, does things right on and off the field, and you want to win ballgames," Barrett said.



IHSAA Sectional First Round
At Lafayette Central Catholic

North Putnam...........................0 0 0 0 -- 0
Lafayette Catholic Central.......28 14 7 2 -- 51

1st quarter
L -- Preston, 1 yard run, 9:09, 7-0 LCC
L -- Anthrop, 25 yard run, 5:47, 14-0
L -- Anthrop, 1 yard run, 3:37, 21-0
L -- Preston to Fusiek, 22 yard pass, 47.8, 28-0

2nd quarter
L -- Preston to Patzschke, 18 yard pass, 10:53, 35-0
L -- Smith, 27 yard run, 3:26, 42-0

3rd quarter
L -- Preston to Anthrop, 23 yard pass, 6:41, 49-0

4th quarter
L -- McFadden tackled in endzone by Schrader, SAFETY, 10:19, 51-0

Stats
Passing: NP- McFadden 3-4, 4 yards, 1 INT, Kendall 0-2, Land 0-1.
Rushing: NP- Bryan 19-67, Green 8-18, Plessinger 7--5, Land 4-33, McFadden 4--30, Riggen 1-1.
Receiving: NP- Flynn 2-0, Bryan 1-5.
Tackles: NP- Bryan 15 (INT), Green 5, Ensor 5, Wiatt 4, Buchanan 3, Burrell 3, Smith 3, Plessinger 2, Riggen 2, Bingman, Dean, Munns, Pollock, Sarr.

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