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Eagles go out on top of WCC with 37-13 win
CLAYTON -- In the 45-year history of the West Central Conference, it's hard to find a more decorated WCC program than the South Putnam football team.
A charter member of the conference, the Eagles have won the 1986 IHSAA Class A state title, a pair of semistates, six regionals and 10 sectionals.
It's fitting, then, that South Putnam finishes the final season of West Central Conference football at the top of the heap. The Eagles' 37-13 victory over Cascade in Friday's regular-season finale gives them a perfect 4-0 WCC record and their second consecutive conference crown.
It's also a testament to the rich history of the conference that this was South Putnam's fifth WCC title, or one fewer than their number of regional titles.
Aware of this history, coach Nathan Aker and his staff brought along the four previous trophies and kept them in the visitors locker room for motivation.
"We've had some tremendous teams at South Putnam, and these kids know what an accomplishment this is," Aker said.
The coach said it was especially sweet for a team that began the season 0-3 and has battled through a number of injuries and other setbacks.
"We've had some adversity," Aker said. "The kids just continue to battle. The message has been to be resilient and they all are. We had 32 players active tonight and every one of them contributed in some way."
The win came with a little more adversity for the Eagles (5-4, 4-0 WCC), as leading rusher Lucas Lorian tallied two personal fouls on a single play, ending his night early and forcing him to sit out of next week's sectional opener against West Washington.
Between some poor decisions by the Eagles and a quick trigger by the officials, a lot of laundry was on the field Friday, with South Putnam flagged 14 times to the tune of 157 yards. The Cadets (1-9, 1-3 WCC) were penalized six times for 40 yards.
In spite of this, the Eagles found a way to put up their second-highest point total of the season.
Lorian opened the scoring, capping a four-play, 31-yard drive with a 10-yard dash into the end zone with 7:35 to play in the opening quarter. Zane Yon's extra point made it 7-0 South Putnam.
Cascade answered on the first play of the second quarter when Sawyer Donovan found Brock Stephenson on a 12-yard touchdown pass, with the ensuing PAT tying the score at 7-all.
The Cadet passing game hurt the Eagles at times on Friday, with Donovan completing 12-of-24 passes for 134 yards and a score. However, the Eagles also sacked Donovan six times for 41 yards and also intercepted him twice.
With the score tied, South Putnam's ensuing drive stalled out at its own 15. The Cadets looked to be in good shape with Jimmy Rutter set to punt from near his own end zone.
However, the junior jack-of-all-trades quickly flipped the field, booming a 68-yard punt to the Cascade 17-yard line.
Three big Eagle defensive plays later and Cascade was set to punt from deep in its own territory. When the snap sailed over Cadet punter Chase Edwards' head, he recovered it in the end zone, only to be thrown for a safety by Trevor Long.
With a 9-7 lead in hand, South Putnam took the ball on its own 44-yard line following the free kick.
On first down, Rutter, normally a receiver, took the snap and found Yon by himself over the middle for a 44-yard touchdown and a 16-7 lead.
Aker had high praise for Rutter, who also had an interception in the third quarter.
"A guy like Jimmy Rutter bounces around and does whatever he can do, and punter is a big one," Aker said. "He steps into whatever role we need him to, does whatever is asked of him."
With the score still 16-7 at the half, Lorian did what he could to put the game away in the third quarter. Taking the opening kickoff from the 20-yard line, he went 80 yards for the touchdown and a 23-7 lead.
Following Rutter's interception, Lorian was at it again, going 50 yards for a rushing touchdown and a 30-7 lead.
With his third touchdown, though, the senior was flagged for a personal foul for high-stepping into the end zone. He quickly picked up a second personal foul for allegedly mouthing off to the official. In trying to get his player off the field, Aker was also flagged for a personal foul that no one on the visiting side agreed with.
Undeterred, the Eagles managed find the end zone one more time.
Following a Cascade touchdown and failed conversion, South put together its most sustained drive of the night, an 11-play, 61-yard effort featuring heavy doses of Yon, now the feature back, and quarterback Kyle Shaffer. Yon capped the drive with a three-yard plunge into the end zone.
In Lorian's absence, Aker praised the performance of Yon as the halfback and Kyle Hall, who took over for Yon at fullback.
The Yon touchdown closed out a 21-point third quarter for the Eagles and concluded the scoring for the evening, with the Eagles leading 37-13.
The fourth quarter was largely uneventful, with sophomore linebacker sealing the game with an interception with 50 seconds remaining.
With the conference title now in hand, the Eagles turn their attention to sectional. West Washington rolls into town next Friday with an identical 5-4 record to South Putnam's.
The Senators are becoming a familiar foe, with South Putnam beating them 26-13 in last season's sectional semifinal.
South Putnam and West Washington kick of at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
At Cascade
South Putnam 7 9 21 0 -- 37
Cascade 0 7 6 0 -- 13
1st Quarter
SP: Lorian 10-yd run (Yon kick) 7:35, 7-0
2nd Quarter
Cas: Stephenson 12-yd pass from Donovan (Edwards kick) 11:55, 7-7
SP: Long tackles Edwards for safety, 8:39, 9-7
SP: Yon 44-yd pass from Rutter (Yon kick) 8:30, 16-7
3rd Quarter
SP: Lorian 80-yd kickoff return (Yon kick) 11:46, 23-7
SP: Lorian 50-yd run (Yon kick) 8:55, 30-7
Cas: Donovan 10-yd run (pass failed) 6:48, 30-13
SP: Yon 3-yd run (Yon kick) 1:03, 37-13
Stats
First downs: SP 9, Cas 6; Turnovers: SP 0, Cas 4; Penalties: SP 14-157, Cas 6-40
South Putnam (5-4, 4-0 WCC):
Rushing (47 rushes, 259 yards): Yon 14-112, Lorian 18-111, Shaffer 13-37, Hall 2-0, Harris 1-(-7)
Passing (1-2, 1 TD, 0 INT, 38 yards, 1 sack for -6 yards): Rutter 1-1-1-0, 44 yds; Shaffer 0-1-0-0, 0 yds
Receving: Yon 1-44
Cascade (1-8, 1-3 WCC):
Rushing (22 rushes, 48 yards): Musgrove 12-24, Stephenson 1-1, Donovan 14-(-3), Edwards 1-(-15)
Passing (12-24, 1 TD, 2 INT, 93 yards, 6 sacks for -41 yards): Donovan 12-24-1-2, 134 yds
Receiving: Guerendo 5-84, Parsons 3-27, Stephenson 3-21, Musgrove 1-2