Cougars blank Clovers 48-0 for first win of season

North Putnam's Paxton O'Brien managed to ride out the last-ditch effort of Cloverdale's Drake Hoffa to knock the tight end out of bounds by somersaulting into the endzone for the final score of Friday's 48-0 Cougar win over the Clovers.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

CLOVERDALE – If history is said not to repeat but often rhyme, North Putnam has a whole host of verses when it comes to Cloverdale in recent years.

For a fourth-straight season, the Cougars picked up their first win of the season at the expense of the Clovers, going on the road and scoring seven times in the first half of a 48-0 win.

“We preached all week we had to focus on ourselves and knew we were on the cusp,” North Putnam head coach Scott Moore said. “We played a tough early schedule and played some good football but didn’t put it all together in the first half of the season.

“We came out and executed on both sides of the ball. Defensively, we had a great gameplan and executed it very well. Offensively, we made plays when we needed to make them.

“We ran the ball well and threw the ball effectively and with good accuracy,” Moore added. “I’m proud of the guys. Winning a football game isn’t easy and hats off to Cloverdale as they’re getting better and better.”

“It’s rough,” Cloverdale head coach Tyler Lotz said. “In the first quarter and a half, we had (North Putnam) in situations where it was third-and-long and gave up a play or third-and-five and jumped offside.

“We didn’t get the plays when we needed them. That killed us defensively. Offensively, they sent a lot of pressure and we had problems blocking it. That comes back on us coaches to keep working and work on the schemes to help these guys block that pressure.

“We took one on the chin tonight and have to keep getting better,” Lotz added.

North Putnam began with a nine-play drive, converting on fourth-and-nine after a first down holding penalty, finishing with a one-yard Caiden Hankins score and a Christian Kramer conversion for an 8-0 lead.

A 42-yard Kramer run set up a Kramer to Brogan Woodall 10-yard score on the next Cougar possession for a 15-0 lead midway through the opening quarter.

The visitors then converted two fourth downs on the next drive, finishing the 10-play, 83-yard drive with a Braden Glaze 11-yard run for a 22-0 advantage with a minute left in the quarter.

“We have to cut back on some of the silly penalties,” Moore said about having to make big plays early after getting behind the chains. “We can’t make those mistakes and expect to have success.

“Hats off to our guys for making plays. We called some things that were there and executed them well. When we’re sharp and crisp, we can be a good football team.”

Cloverdale, having gone three-and-out on its first two drives, started the next drive at the North Putnam 39-yard line after two Cougar personal fouls on the kickoff and moved up 15 more yards after a pass interference call but couldn’t gain any yardage and turned the ball over on downs.

After a first down, North Putnam was dinged for holding with a bad snap on the next play recovered by Clover Jesse Carroll.

The hosts gave the ball back three plays later when Artrevion Henderson was sacked and lost the ball with Hankins recovering.

“We tell the guys this all the time but games are won and lost up front,” Lotz said as the Clovers were 5-24 passing on the night with several balls sailing out of bounds to avoid sacks. “Until we figure that out and prove it, we’re going to end up on the wrong side of the scoreboard.”

Two big pass plays from Kramer to Woodall set up glaze for a one-yard run to make it 29-0 before Kramer broke off a 72-yard run on the next Cougar possession to pass the running clock threshold at 36-0.

Wes Murphy caught two passes for 40 yards on the next North Putnam drive before taking a swing pass from Kramer 16 yards for a score.

The ensuing kickoff was fumbled by Cloverdale with Cougar Jake Turk recovering, setting up a three-play drive that ended with Paxton O’Brien taking a pass in the flat for 25 yards and the final score of the game.

A solid kick return set up Cloverdale near midfield and a 36-yard pass from Tayt Jackson to Drake Hoffa set up the hosts at the North Putnam 11-yard line.

Jackson threw a 50-50 ball that hit off the hands of both Woodall and Hoffa before the former came up with an interception two plays later to end the half.

“We had some different things we felt strongly about what (Cloverdale) would do and what our adjustment would be,” Moore said about getting pressure on Jackson. “We were able to put pressure on him as he is a special player and the more we got the ball out of his hands, the better success we knew we could have.”

With the running clock, the second half flew by with a pair of turnover on downs to start the third quarter, along with two punts as the game reached the final period of play.

Cloverdale put one more solid drive together, reaching the North Putnam 18-yard line before consecutive negative plays were followed by a late interception by Zach McConnell to finish the night.

Scoring

1st Quarter

NP — Hankins 1-yard run (Kramer conversion) 9:29 0-8

NP — Bro. Woodall 10-yard pass from Kramer (E. Polley kick) 6:21 0-15

NP — Glaze 11-yard run (E. Polley kick) 1:22 0-22

2nd Quarter

NP — Glaze 1-yard run (E. Polley kick) 8:48 0-29

NP — Kramer 72-yard run (E. Polley kick) 5:57 0-36

NP — Murphy 16-yard run (XP no good) 4:11 0-42

NP — O’Brien 25-yard pass from Kramer (XP no good) 3:16 0-48

Statistics

Individual Statistics

Rushing

North Putnam — 32-222, 4 TD — Kramer 11-130, TD; Murphy 6-20; Hankins 5-25, TD; Glaze 5-24, 2 TD; O’Brien 3-24; Thurman 2-(-1)

Cloverdale — 22-33 — Johnson 13-32; Jackson 4-(-15); Henderson 2-(-10); Compton 1-21; Campbell 1-5; McGuire 1-0

Passing

North Putnam — 15-21-254, 3 TD — Kramer 15-20-254, 3 TD; Thurman 0-1-0

Cloverdale — 5-24-56, 2 INT — Jackson 5-22-56, INT; Henderson 0-2-0, INT

Receiving

North Putnam — Murphy 7-136, TD; Bro. Woodall 4-75, TD; O’Brien 3-34. TD; N. Bryan 1-9

Cloverdale — Hoffa 3-50; I. Helton 1-3; Bridges 1-3