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Eagles lose to Royals in regional championship
Senior quarterback Sawyer Arnold returned in the second half after a nearly two-game absence to rest his torn ACL but the emotional charge wasn't enough to lift the South Putnam football team on Friday.
For the Banner Graphic
The South Putnam football team had lots to overcome this season, but still managed a great year, a season that Putnam County residents should be proud of. The Eagles lived by the phrase "Next man up" all year long.
"We did it all year long. If a guy gets hurt, we have guys that are able to step in and make plays for us and they have done it all year long," South Putnam head coach Troy Burgess said.
Losing senior center Nathan Criss in week five may have been hard to overcome, but senior Lane Hacker slid down from guard and fit nicely. Losing senior quarterback Sawyer Arnold on the first play in the second game of sectionals would crush most teams, but instead sophomore Grady McHugh took the field in his place with poise and led the team to two wins and a sectional championship.
Then last week following two personal foul calls against him, defensive play-caller senior Tayler Arnold was ejected from the game and forced to serve a one-game suspension. Junior Zane Yon stepped up in his place to take on those duties this week, making 6.0 tackles.
South Putnam had the toughest schedule in the county this year, playing one 4A team, three 3A teams, four 2A teams and five 1A teams, four in the playoffs. The Eagles swept the conference schedule, winning their first undisputed conference championship since 1988 and beating every county foe, a feat not accomplished since 2005.
"It is the toughest in the county," Burgess said. "I thought our team played exceptionally well. You get to this point, regionals, 11-2, that is a great year. These kids worked their tails off. They have nothing to be ashamed of. They played their hearts out."
South Putnam finished the regular season 8-1, its best regular season finish since at least 1994. Its last trip to regionals was 2011 when it lost to Guerin Catholic 41-27. The team this year has a lot to be proud of.
"They worked hard," Burgess said. "They won a conference and they won a sectional.
"I hope we continue to build on that and I hope football continues to be strong here at South Putnam."
The Eagles lost at home to Eastern Hancock in the Indiana High School Athletic Association regionals, 29-14.
"I'm very, very proud of our kids," SPHS coach Troy Burgess said. "When you hold that team to three offensive scores, coach (Nathan) Aker and that defense need a lot of credit, and they deserve a lot of credit."
South Putnam began the game playing nearly as ideally as it could have imagined.
The Eagles kicked off and after each team had their drive stalled, punted to pin the Royals inside their own 5-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Logan Splater threw an interception to Eagles senior Derrick Mitchell, giving his team the ball on the Royals' 13.
Two plays later senior Joe Waters punched it in for a 7-0 lead against the highest-scoring team in the state.
South Putnam loaded the box to try to slow down Royals star running back Spencer Gilbert and made its third consecutive defensive stand.
Eagles junior Lucas Lorian, who entered the game with 2,610 yards and 37 touchdowns rushing, broke loose for a 17-yard gain, pushing back into Eastern Hancock territory.
Two plays later, South Putnam made a remarkable play that shocked the crowd and the Royals.
Senior fullback Joe Waters took the ball around right tackle and met a wall of defenders. Rather than going to the ground, he flipped it back to sophomore quarterback Grady McHugh.
Lorian, trailing the play, saw McHugh with the ball, knew the quarterback wanted no part of a carry, and shouted for McHugh to toss it back for the play's second lateral.
McHugh complied and Lorian broke a pair of tackles before finding space down the sideline. He was caught near the 10, but stepped through two more tackles before finding the end zone.
The disciplined Eagles' willingness to reach outside the playbook and improvise showed their desire to do whatever it took to win.
The desire, and their momentum, soon ran out.
Splater threw his second interception on the Royals' next drive and South Putnam faced a fourth-and-1 on the Eastern Hancock 23-yard line to start the second quarter.
Waters took the ball and appeared to cross the first-down marker, but the officials spotted it just behind the line and giving the Royals a boost. It was the closest South Putnam got to scoring for the rest of the game.
"(The Royals) did a very good job. They've got a very good football team," Burgess said. "They've got a lot of weapons."
Eastern Hancock's ensuing 14-play, five-minute drive ended with Splater making amends for his two turnovers and cutting up the middle for a 6-yard score. A two-point conversion made it 14-8.
Two drives later McHugh threw an interception the was returned 55-yards by senior Hunter Knopp for touchdown that gave the visitors the lead before halftime.
South Putnam came out of the locker room after the break, but Lorian remained back. He suffered an apparent lower-leg injury and missed the Eagles' first two drives of the half.
The Royals took advantage, scoring on a 16-play, six-minute drive that took most of the quarter.
Gilbert punched in the touchdown. He finished with 35 carries for 179 yards.
Now trailing 22-14, South Putnam was desperate to get back in the game. Lorian emerged from the locker room and Arnold began taking snaps and warming up on the sideline.
A touchback gave the Eagles the ball on their own 20 and Arnold and Lorian took the team onto the field. Arnold, wearing a heavy brace, had taken just two snaps in the previous two games.
"He had a torn ACL and he still gutted it out and got in there and did a great job," Burgess said. "He took a few snaps last night in practice and that was it.
"I wasn't going to play him, but he wanted to go in there, he wanted to try to do something, and that was it. ... He had earned the right to play, and that's why we made the change. Grady had done nothing wrong."
Arnold lined up behind center in a shotgun formation, flanked by Lorian. The Eagles had used that formation throughout the season and with the mobile senior quarterback, it works almost as a single-wing.
Lorian gained 11 yards on the first place, exciting the crowd as it appeared Arnold's presence might shock life back into his team. It was short lived. A miscommunication on the next play led to an interception.
"I felt like I didn't call a very good game tonight," Burgess said. "Five turnovers is a lot to overcome. ... You can't do that. You're not going to win games doing that."
Junior Cooper Henderson took the ball in on the Royals next drive. He finished with 10 carries for 63 yards and his touchdown gave his team a 29-14 lead with 11:33 remaining.
Arnold stayed in the game, carrying the ball three times for 24 yards, but the momentum of his presence faded into defeat as the clock ticked down.
On fourth-and-14 inside the Royals' 20, Arnold threw a second interception to Gilbert.
Mitchell took the ball back on the next play with his second interception of the day, but the Eagles stalled and Eastern Hancock worked the final 5:50 of the game down on its final drive.
South Putnam finished the season with county, conference and sectional championships. Their 11 wins is the most for the Eagles since they made the state finals in 2002.
The seniors on the team -- Klayton Vittetow, Tyler Neumann, Wes Riner, Braden Patrick, Tayler Arnold, Joe Waters, Ben Fiest, Sawyer Arnold, Derrick Mitchell, Jake Wiggs, Nathan Criss, Kraig Sargent, Lane Hacker, Rudy Harris and Jacob Williams -- finished their careers with 34 wins in four years.
"I've had a great time with these kids," Burgess said. "It's been a lot of fun. Once the sting wears off, I think we're all going to look back at how special this year was and how special this senior group was."
IHSAA Regional Football
At South Putnam
Eastern Hancock 0 15 7 7 -- 29
South Putnam 14 0 0 0 -- 14
Scoring Summary
1st quarter
S 5:52 -- Waters 4 yard run (Yon kick), 0-7
S 3:18 -- Lorian 41 yard run (Yon), 0-14
2nd quarter
E 6:56 -- Splater 6 yard run (2pt good, Henderson run), 8-14
E 4:11 -- Knopp 55 yard interception return (Henderson kick), 15-14
3rd quarter
E 1:15 -- Henderson 2 yard run (Henderson), 22-14
4th quarter
E 11:33 -- Gilbert 1 yard run (Henderson), 29-14
Team stats
| * | EH | SP |
| 1st downs | 15 | 11 |
| Net yards | 323 | 271 |
| Rush-yards | 57-293 | 41-227 |
| Pass yards | 30 | 44 |
| Punt ret-yard | - | - |
| Kick ret-yard | 2-27 | 3-62 |
| Int-ret yard | 3-75 | 3-15 |
| Comp-att-int | 2-10-3 | 3-13-3 |
| Sacked-yard | - | - |
| Punts-yards | 1-47 | 3-58 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-1 | 2-2 |
| Penalties-yd | 6-34 | 2-20 |
| T.O.P. | 26:37 | 21:23 |
Individual stats
Eastern Hancock (13-0)
Rushing: Gilbert 35-179 TD, Henderson 10-63 TD, Splater 12-51 TD
Passing: Splater 3-10-3-30
Receiving: Gilbert 1-21, Fish 1-9, Noel 1-4
Tackles: Gilbert 10.0, Denny 4.0, Riley 4.0, Henderson 3.5, Hunt 3.5, Spegal 2.5, Splater 2.5, Knopp 2.5, Smith 1.0, Campbell 1.0, Hancock .5, Delph .5, Carlton .5.
South Putnam (11-2)
Rushing: Lorian 24-168 TD, Arnold 3-24, Waters 4-13 TD, Patrick 6-12, McHugh 1-7, Riner 3-3
Passing: McHugh 2-7-1-35, Arnold 1-6-2-9
Receiving: Riner 2-35, Rutter 1-9
Tackles: Yon 6.0, Vittetow 4.0, Riner 3.0, Patrick 4.0, Shaffer 4.5, Waters 4.5, Rutter 2.5, Lorian 1.0, Mitchell 2.0 INT, Long 3.5, J. Wiggs 1.0, Sargent 1.0, Masters 7.0, Hacker .5, Harris 7.5, Williams 4.5.