Quick start paces ‘Hawks by Eagles

SHERIDAN — The South Putnam Eagles traveled to Sheridan for the opening round of the Class 1A high school football sectional. In a blink of an eye, they were staring at 21-0 deficit and the Blackhawks used the quick start to cruise to a 49-12 victory to advance, while the Eagles ended their season with a 4-6 record.

This was the opposite result of last year’s game against Sheridan, when the Eagles jumped to a quick start and won 56-22.

“Hats off to Sheridan. They flipped the script from last year. They went down and scored and then got the fumble on the kickoff and that really hurt us. We never recovered,” South Putnam head coach Nathan Aker said.

The Blackhawks drove 80 yards in nine plays on the opening possession. Joe Callahan scored from six yards out. The PAT was good and Sheridan led 7-0.

The Eagles then fumbled the squib kick and Sheridan used seven more plays to lead 14-0 after Drake Delph scored on a three-yard run.

South Putnam finally got its first chance on offense, but couldn’t move the ball and Sheridan forced another Eagle mistake.

The Blackhawks blocked the Eagle punt and took over in great field position at the Eagle 27-yard line.

Four plays later, Delph found Rhett Williams with a 22-yard pass for a score and Sheridan led 21-0 just 10 minutes into the game.

“We try and teach the kids that the little things matter. That was evident on [Friday] night. Hopefully, they can learn from this and grow up and teach their kids that,” Aker said.

Sheridan scored again on its next possession with a 20-yard pass from Delph to Brody Perry and South was staring at a four-touchdown deficit. Eagles finally got something going late in the half as Hunter Higgins made a terrific play on a pass from Allen Plunkett and scored a 32-yard touchdown to cut the score to 28-6.

“[Higgins) made a great play on the ball from Allen. It was good with Allen back,” Aker said.

South came out after the half and scored on another pass from Plunkett to Higgins, this one from 55-yards out, but Sheridan immediately answered as Delph scored.

“Our seniors didn’t go out the way the wanted, but they have been part of a lot of good football teams here at South Putnam. The future is bright as we have played a lot of sophomores and juniors. We even started a freshman at safety,” Aker said.

South Putnam 0 6 6 0 — 12

Sheridan 21 14 7 7 — 49

SHS — Joe Callahan 6 run (Gunnar Williams kick) 7-0, Q1 8:25.

SHS — Drake Delph 3 run (Gunnar Williams kick) 14-0, Q1 6:11.

SHS — Rhett Williams 22 pass from Delph (Gunnar Williams kick) 21-0, Q1 2:10.

SHS — Brody Perry 20 pass from Delph (Gunnar Williams kick) 28-0, Q2 8:14.

SP – Hunter Higgins 32 pass from Allen Plunkett (run failed) 28-6, Q2 3:19.

SHS — Cole Cummings 20 pass from Delph (Gunnar Williams kick) 35-6, Q2 :00.

SP – Hunter Higgins 55 pass from Allen Plunkett (run failed) 35-12, Q3 10:59.

SHS — Drake Delph 1 run (Gunnar Williams kick) 42-12, Q3 10:21.

SHS — Callahan 13 run (Gunnar Williams kick) 49-6, Q4 5:57.

SP SH

First downs 4 25

Rushes-yards 23-37 64-392

Passing yards 95 96

Comp-Att-Int 3-18-0 4-9-0

Total offense 132 488

Punts-Avg. 5-33.8 1-8.0

Fumbles-lost 4-2 3-1

Penalties-yards 3-30 5-36

Individual statistics

Rushing — South Putnam: Kyle Shaffer 15-46, Dalton Scott 3-7, Allen Plunkett 3-(-18), Connor Cain 1-2, Aiden LeBlanc 1-0. Sheridan: Joe Callahan 39-266, Drake Delph 18-82, Gunnar Williams 6-42, Robert Burnell 1-2.

Passing — South Putnam: Plunkett 3-18-0 95. Sheridan: Carter 4-9-0 96.

Receiving — South Putnam: Hunter Higgins 2-87, Kyle Shaffer 1-8. Sheridan: Brody Perry 1-20, Gunnar Williams 1-34, Cole Cummings 1-20, Rhett Williams 1-20.