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Cougars top Eagles in county collision
ROACHDALE - South Putnam's football team walked onto North Putnam's home field Friday looking to take back the Putnam County Bucket, which the Eagles won last season at Cloverdale.
The Cougars had other plans, however, and held the line when the game was in the balance to earn their fourth victory of the season.
"Our defense was focused tonight," Cougar coach Greg Barrett said. "We knew they were going to make big plays. We were going to bend and don't break. We had big fourth-down stops. I think we had a fumble recovery and five turnovers on the night. That's huge."
Big plays were abound for both sides all night. South Putnam struck first with a 31-yd pass from Grady McHugh to Daniel Grundlock. His only catch of the night put the Eagles up 6-0 with the missed extra point.
North Putnam then was able to fire back. After a fumble recovery by the Cougars and some help from Eagle penalties, North Putnam found itself in scoring position and capitalized with Ethan Christy to the right for a short score. The failed attempt made the game a 6-6 tie.
The next big play came from Kyle Shaffer, in the second quarter, who broke six or seven tackles for a big score after a pass. However, it was called back due to offsetting penalties on each team, each for blows to the head.
Shaffer then caught a screen pass and took it 62 yards for a touchdown. Shaffer received a key block down the field and the crucial hit by Dylan Wood gave Shaffer that last bit of room for the final break to the end zone.
"We did a good job at extending the game," Eagle coach Nathan Aker said. "There were some key points there and we did make some plays. We've got to take care of ourselves. We had way too many penalties and that's on me. As the head coach I've got to get that cleaned up. I didn't do a good job with that this week. But we will get it cleaned up."
With the home team down 12-6 Brad Hodges stepped up with a big throw, this one to Daniel Huffman for a 36-yard score in which Huffman jumped over two Eagle defenders for the catch.
"We talked about all week how it was going to be a backyard brawl," Barrett said. "It was a backyard brawl."
After a South Putnam punt, North Putnam put together a decent drive inside of four minutes passing the ball down the field.
North Putnam then got a little more help from Eagle penalties before the Cougars punched it in with Christy scoring.
The score made the game a 19-12 Cougar lead at the break.
Defense for North Putnam was the story of the second half as the Cougars repeatedly made plays on defense that led to the win.
Four minutes into the second half, Cameron McPherson picked off a McHugh pass that placed North Putnam in good position as Hayden Rudes and Hodges took over.
However that drive stalled and a missed Cougar field goal gave the Eagles good position.
Aker then deployed the Shaffer offense to get the ball down the field and eventually into the end zone.
Aker said that many successful drives were a result of the players' effort on both teams, giving every bit of effort to make plays.
"Those guys in blue played really tough," Aker said. "Our guys did too. It was a heck of a football game. A lot of things were going on. There was cramping and a lot of gassed players. I think it was because guys were getting after it. Two conditioned teams, two rivals head to head. It was a great game."
With the score at 19-18 the Eagles went for two but the pass went awry.
Huffman, who made a few plays against Jimmy Rutter, was on the breakup.
South Putnam then attempted an onside kick which put the Cougars in good shade at the end of the third.
Barrett than called a halfback pass, which Hodges tossed to Huffman who landed inside the five-yard line.
After punching the score in and making it a 26-18 game. North Putnam still had to stop the Eagles which they had done a good job of.
"I think it's attrition," Barrett said. "You just keep attacking and hitting on them. I thought our pursuit was great tonight. Gang tackling was huge. We knew we had to hit those big boys to get them down. They are good running backs and they're big up front. It was a hard fought battle. Tonight we were the lucky ones to come out on top."
Bend but don't break worked out well for the Cougars who pulled off an interception which put North Putnam deep in its own territory. However they fought out and punted.
The Cougars then stopped the Eagles' four pass plays and Huffman earned another pick for the Cougars which sealed the game.
Each team is now 4-1 with South Putnam at West Vigo (4-1, 1-1 WIC) next and North Putnam at Edgewood (2-3, 1-1 WIC).
At North Putnam
SPHS 6 6 6 0 -- 18
NPHS 0 19 0 7 -- 26
1st Quarter
SP -- McHugh 10 yard pass to Grundlock ( missed FG)- 6-0 SP
2nd Quarter
NP -- 2 yd run by Christy (missed FG) 6-6
SP -- McHugh 62 yd pass to Shaffer 12-6 SP
NP-- Rudes 36 yd pass to Huffman (missed FG) 12-12
NP -- Christy 2-yd run (kick by Allen good) 19-12 NP
3rd Quarter
SP -- Shaffer 8-yd run (2 pt failed )19-18 NP
4th Quarter
NP -- Rudes 1 yd run (kick good) 26-18 NP
NP Stats
Rushing: Christy 10-63, Rudes 8-3, Hodges 9-37, Everts 3-11, Huffman 3-24, 2-1
Passing: Rudes: 9-1294 (TD), Hodges 1-
Rec: Haste 2-25, Huffman 2-102, Christy 2-23, Hodges 1-6, Everts 1-1
SP stats
Rushing: Shaffer 21-113 TD, Gierke 9-44, Plunkett 3 19, Scott 2-6
Passing: McHugh 6-19-152 (2TD)
Rec: Rutter 4 -81, Shaffer 1-62, Hall 1-4, Grundlock 1-31