Long drive, key errors doom Cougars

Gunner Burress attempts to evade the Cascade defense Friday night. The senior was North Putnam's leading rusher and receiver and threw the night's only touchdown pass.

Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN

ROACHDALE — Not a point was scored in the third quarter Friday night at North Putnam.

Yet that quarter went a long way toward putting the game out of reach for the Cougars, who lost to Cascade 9-6 on homecoming.

Trailing 3-0 at the half, the Cougars took the kickoff to open the third, picked up a single first down and then punted to the Cadets.

It would be almost a full period before the Cougars (1-4, 1-0 WIC) possessed the ball again, this time trailing 9-0 with the fourth quarter just under way.

The Cadets’ 15-play drive featured five first downs and was aided by a fake punt and a personal foul penalty that took the Cadets out of what would have been a third-and-long situation.

When Cadet junior Liam Farmer finally found the end zone on the second play of the fourth quarter, it all but salted away a game that had been played at such a plodding pace.

“Both teams were running the ball and didn’t want to throw it and the clock was going by quickly,” North Putnam coach Ryan Burress said. “I told the team when we got the ball in the fourth quarter, ‘We better make this count.’”

Unfortunately, the Cougars waited a little too late to make it count.

Their first possession of the fourth was a three-and-out.

When they forced the Cadets (2-4, 0-4 Indiana Crossroads) into a turnover on downs near midfield on the ensuing possession, the Cougars looked to be in business.

However, a 40-yard drive stalled out with a turnover on downs at the Cadet 17-yard line, and the Cougars still trailed 9-0 with 4:19 to play.

On third down, though, the Cougars forced the second Cadet turnover of the game and took over at the Cascade 35.

Having played fullback for the last two weeks, senior Gunner Burress switched back to the quarterback position in which he started the year.

Despite four incompletions and a sack, the drive stayed alive on one Burress scramble for 11 yards and a Cadet pass interference penalty.

Finally, with just 35 seconds to play, Burress found fellow senior Gabe Garcia inside the 10-yard line. Garcia did the rest, powering through a defender and into the end zone for the Cougars’ only score of the night.

Coach Burress thought the entire sequence, from fumble recovery to touchdown was indicative of the fight the team, the seniors in particular, have shown in a tough season.

“Getting the strip and getting the ball and changing it up. Then to get the score,” Burress said. “That was a great effort by Garcia to get in the end zone and Gunner to find him on that pass.

“These seniors, for the most part, were like seniors last year,” Burress said. “Those guys helped carry the team last year. They’ve never quit. They’ve always fought and battled.”

The ensuing onside kick was covered by the Cadets, who took a knee to close out the game.

In a game where they committed seven penalties, threw two interceptions and put the ball on the ground three times, two errors stick out for the Cougars.

One was the personal foul on the Cadets’ decisive drive. The other was an interception on the Cougars’ first offensive possession.

After forcing a Cadet punt to open the game, North marched 59 yards in nine plays, led by 51 from Gunner Burress.

However, Cascade’s Jackson Mantooth intercepted a Bryson Staggs pass to end what turned out to be the Cougars’ most sustained drive of the night.

“That was on me, that interception,” coach Burress said. “We ran the ball down their throat the whole way down the field and then got to the 11-yard-line and tried to throw it and get cute. That was on me. We should’ve just stayed with what was working and running the ball.”

The two teams spent much of the rest of the first half trading possessions in the middle of the field, before senior Brayden Potters capped a 10-play drive with a 29-yard field goal just 13 seconds before halftime.

On the evening, Gunner Burress was the Cougars’ leading rusher on the night with 24 runs for 97 yards, as well as leading receiver with two grabs for 31 yards.

Staggs threw for 31 yards, with his only two completions on six attempts hauled in by Burress.

The Cougars return to Western Indiana Conference play when they visit West Vigo at 7 p.m. next Friday. Coach Burress credited the Vikings with always being a tough and physical matchup.

“Next week, hopefully we get a couple of starters back,” coach Burress said. “We had two out this week, still going through the COVID protocol and one guy with his hand hurt. It’ll be interesting getting back to full strength, and right her eat the right time, hopefully, going into sectional.

Scoring

2nd Quarter

C: Potters 29-yd FG, 0:13

4th Quarter

C: Farmer 4-yd run (kick blocked), 11:25

NP: Garcia 18-yd pass from Burress (kick failed), 0:35

Individual Statistics

Rushing

Cascade — 44-175, 1 TD — Mantooth 13-55; Farmer 15-53 TD; Potters 4-28; Clements 4-23; Weigle 6-12; Nohren 2-4

North Putnam — 32-94 — Burress 24-97; O’Hair 4-7; Staggs 3-(-7); Kramer 1-(-3)

Passing

Cascade — 0-1 0 yards — Weigle 0-1-0

North Putnam — 3-11-49 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT — Staggs 2-6-31 yards, 2 INT; Burress 1-5-18 yards, 1 TD

Receiving

Cascade — None

North Putnam — Burress 2-31; Garcia 1-18, TD