FOOTBALL TONIGHT: Tonight's high school football games

South Putnam (1-1) at North Putnam (0-2)

Game time: 7 p.m.

Media coverage: WREB-FM 94.3 will broadcast the game.

The coaches: Sam Carnes is in his first year at North Putnam. Nathan Aker is in his fourth year at South Putnam with a career record of 19-16.

The history: North Putnam holds a 19-17 record over the past 30 years. The Cougars have won the past two years (40-19 last year and 26-18 in 2015).

So far: South Putnam defeated Cloverdale 20-6 at home and lost 21-14 at home to Brown County. North Putnam lost 34-10 to Indian Creek and 49-27 to Southmont.

WIC impact: This is the first conference game of the year for both teams.

Key players: For South Putnam, senior Christian Zeffel has completed 8 of 18 passes for 124 yards and one touchdown, while Aidan LeBlanc is the leading rusher with 228 yards on 46 carries. On defense, Colin Adams leads with 13 total tackles (eight solo).

For North Putnam, quarterback Hayden Rudes and running back Ethan Christy pace the offense.

Coach Aker on his team: “I’ve been impressed by our kids on how they’ve bounced back after last week’s tough loss. We’ve got to continue to battle through the injuries but we’ve had numerous young guys step up and embrace their opportunity. This will be key for us on Friday. How well can we step up in the face of adversity and fight for your brothers? We’re continuing to gain valuable experience which will pay dividends for us going forward. I like where our team is at as far as leadership and work ethic. Our JV set the tone for the week with a big win down at Brown County on Monday. Those young men spend a lot of time on our prep teams getting the varsity ready for Friday night and have done a great job with that.”

Coach Aker on North Putnam: “North Putnam is a talented ball club. They’ve got talent across the board. I have been impressed with what they have done the last two weeks against outstanding opponents. Their passing game is much improved and have made several big plays through the air. They have an outstanding running back in Buck Christy who is capable of taking the game over at any point of time. To create success against North, we must eliminate the big play and make a big play in the kicking game. We must continue to sustain long drives and finish when we get into the red zone.”

Coach Carnes on his team: “We have to continue to get better at the little things. We have to tackle better and block better than our opponents. We need to hold onto the ball and take the ball away from our opponents.”

Coach Carnes on South Putnam: “South Putnam is a tough team that wants to establish the run, and uses that to set up the pass. Since this is a North vs. South game, and a Bucket game, we expect the Eagles to be ready to play.”

West Vigo (1-1) at Greencastle (2-0)

Game time: 7 p.m.

Media coverage: WGRE-FM 91.5 will broadcast the game.

The coaches: Jeff Cobb is in his 13th year at West Vigo with a record of 56-68. Mike Meyer is in his eighth year at Greencastle with a career record of 31-43.

The history: Greencastle has a 6-3 record in games played over the past 30 years. The Tiger Cubs won a pair of 3-point games last year, winning 30-27 at West Terre Haute in the regular season and taking a 33-30 homefield win in the first round of the sectional. West Vigo had won the two previous meetings prior to last year.

So far: Greencastle has won 10-0 at Crawfordsville and 21-13 at Cloverdale. West Vigo lost 22-18 at Class A No. 1 North Central and defeated Crawfordsville 35-13 at home.

WIC impact: This is the first conference game of the year for both teams.

Key players: For Greencastle, Alex Costin has completed 6 of 21 passes for 130 yards and one touchdown. Junior running backs Andrew Fajt and Aaron Butttery both have more than 100 yards rushing. On defense, Gavin Bollman has 17 tackles (12 solo) and four sacks to lead in both categories. Senior Jacob Meyer recorded two safeties last week.

Quarterback Jake Lautenschlager and running back Jarret McCalister pace the Vikings.

Coach Meyer on his team: “We have to take care of business and make sure we’re doing what we’re supposed to do. We are still getting better. We have to keep working, and we’re still working. We’re 2-0. We’re not where we want to be, but that’s not too bad. There are a lot of people out there who wish they were 2-0.”

Coach Meyer on West Vigo: “Last year we had two really close games with them. I know that coach Cobb is going to have them ready to play. They are a very good football team. They are going to well-coached and play hard, and they’re going to come after us. They do some trickery with halfback passes and the hook and lateral, so we have to be ready for those.”

Cloverdale (0-2) at Edgewood (0-2)

Game time: 7 p.m.

Media coverage: WCLS-FM 97.7 will broadcast the game.

The coaches: Tom Winders is in his first year at Cloverdale. Brian Rosenburgh is in his first year at Edgewood.

The history: Cloverdale won 20-18 at home last year, and Edgewood won 49-6 at home in 2015.

So far: Cloverdale has lost 20-6 at South Putnam and 21-13 to Greencastle at home. Edgewood has lost 36-7 at home to Mitchell and 56-0 at Northview.

WIC impact: This is the first conference game of the year for both teams.

Key players: Logan Abner leads the Clover defense with 2.5 sacks, while Nick Winders tops the team in tackles with 27 (12 solo). Jake Wilkes and Tray Dickison have each recovered a fumble.

On offense, Tyce Jackson is the team’s leading rusher with 52 yards, while Parker Watts has completed 2 of 6 passes for 65 yards and a touchdown. Drew Boyette has completed 5 of 8 passes for 42 yards.

For Edgewood, senior Andrew Graef has completed 3 of 16 passes for 13 yards. Sophomore John McGlothin is the team’s leading rusher with 75 yards on 19 carries.

Coach Winders on his team: “I thought last week we came out with a purpose and tried to set the tone early. We did a good job of that for the most part. In the second half, not so much. Greencastle made the adjustments that we never did really overcome. I did like the effort that our guys put forth. Hopefully we can carry that over to this week’s game against Edgewood.”

Coach Winders on Edgewood: “I know that Edgewood will be prepared for us. Should be a good match up. My guys are ready for the challenge this week.”