The Cloverdale football team traveled to North Putnam Friday night to play the Cougars in the final game of the regular season

The Cloverdale football team traveled to North Putnam Friday night to play the Cougars in the final game of the regular season. Both teams were looking to fine-tune their offenses and defenses in preparation for the sectional, which begin next week.

Both teams had suffered tough losses to strong competitors last Saturday in the West Central Conference "Day At The Dome," North Putnam 28-7 to Speedway and Cloverdale 42-7 to Owen Valley.

After a low scoring first quarter, North Putnam broke the game open in the second stanza and defeated the Clovers, 42-13.

Both teams were stopped on their respective opening drives of the game, but the Cougars were able to put together an 11-play, 91-yard scoring drive on their second possession. Brayden Dahlstrom hit Tyler Trent with a 16-yard pass and Griffen Dahlstrom kicked the extra point to give North Putnam a 7-0 lead.

The Cougars would score four different times in the second quarter while the North Putnam defense stifled the Clovers, forcing two turnovers, a fumble recovered by Justin Ensor, and an interception by Trent.

Adam Vondersaar scored on a 3-yard run and Brayden Dahlstrom dished-out three touchdown passes of three, 14, & 25 yards to Trent, Shane Diebold, & Colby Ensor, respectively.

The Cougars took a 35-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

In the third quarter, Cloverdale was able to get its offense on track, scoring a touchdown on a 26-yard pass from Chase Haltom to Christian Cheatham, to cap-off a 70-yard, 14 plays, drive that took nearly eight minutes off of the clock.

The Clovers defense was also able to stop the Cougars, limiting the home team to a minus-six yards in total offense in the third quarter.

One minute and 14 seconds into the fourth quarter, Cloverdale was able to score again on a 24-yard "flea flicker" pass from Cheatham to Keith Morgan, narrowing the score to 35-13 with 10:46 left to play in the game.

The Cougars were able to stop the next drive down the field and Austin Malayer scored the final points of the game for North Putnam on an 8-yard run and the extra point kick by Griffen Dahlstrom would turn out to be the final points of the game by both teams.

Cloverdale's final scoring opportunity was ended by a J.T. Francies interception with 2:55 left in the game and the Cougars were able to control the ball and run-out the clock for the victory.

"I think maybe we caught the Clovers off guard a little bit with our formation adjustments in the first half tonight," North Putnam coach Dave Pasch said following the game. "Our kids executed our game plan in the first half almost to perfection & it makes you feel good as a coach, more so with as young a ball club as we have, to see the kids execute as well as they did tonight.

"Our offensive line gave us the best pass protection that we have had all year," said Pasch.

"North Putnam is a very good team," Cloverdale coach Jamie Steffy said following the game. "After falling behind like we did in the first half, we knew we had to accomplish some things in the second half and we played with a little more enthusiasm and emotion after halftime.

"We had the ball for an eight minute drive in the second half and we were able to hold them to only one score after halftime.

"North Putnam was very well prepared for us tonight," said Steffy.

Kyle Rooker gained 67 yards on four carries before leaving the game with a twisted ankle in the half way during the second quarter to lead the Cougars in rushing. Vondersaar followed with 43 yards on nine carries, Cody Newlin had 28 on two carries, and Francies had 23 yards on 1 rush.

Aaron Smith gained 18 yards on six carries to lead the Clovers in rushing. Morgan, Haltom, & Cheatham followed with 17, 17, & 15 yards respectively.

As a team, North Putnam gained 187 rushing yards compared to Cloverdale's 61 yards on ground.

The Cougars were 15-for-19 through the air for 192 yards. Quarterback Brayden Dahlstrom hit Trent and Colby Ensor with passes totaling 80 & 58 yards each.

The Clovers were 9-for-18 through the air for 97 yards. Quarterback Haltom hit Cheatham and Morgan with passes totaling 39 & 29 yards each.

The Cougars (5-4, 3-3 WCC) travel to North Montgomery next Friday night for the first game of the sectional, with the game beginning at 7 p.m.

The Clovers (4-5, 2-4 WCC) travel to South Vermillion next Friday night for the first game of the sectional, with the game beginning at 7 p.m.

At North Putnam

Cloverdale 0 0 7 6 -- 13

North Putnam 7 28 0 7 -- 42

First Quarter

North Putnam - B. Dahlstrom to Trent 16 pass (G. Dahlstrom kick) 3:36

Second Quarter

North Putnam - Vondersaar 4 run (Dahlstrom kick) 11:56

North Putnam - B. Dahlstrom to Trent 3 pass (G. Dahlstrom kick) 9:44

North Putnam - B. Dahlstrom to Diebold 14 pass (G. Dahlstrom kick) 8:28

North Putnam - B. Dahlstrom to C. Ensor 25 pass (G. Dahlstrom kick) 1:55

Third Quarter

Cloverdale - Haltom to Cheatham 26 pass (Keefer kick) 4:15

Fourth Quarter

Cloverdale - Cheatham to Morgan 24 pass (Kick failed) 10:46

North Putnam - Malayer 8 run (G. Dahlstrom kick) 4:10

TEAM STATISTICS

First Downs - North Putnam (12), Cloverdale (6)

Punts-Yards - North Putnam (3-97), Cloverdale (4-123)

Fumbles-Lost - North Putnam (1-0), Cloverdale (1-1)

Penalties-Yards - North Putnam (5-45), Cloverdale (6-45)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

North Putnam:

Rushing - (30 Carries, 187 yards) - Rooker 4-67, Vondesaar 9-43, B. Dahlstrom 8-10, Francies 1-23, Malayer 3-13, Newlin 2-28, Hunt 2-1, Ford 1-2.

Passing - (15-19-4-0, 192 yards) - B. Dahlstrom 15-18, 192 yds., 4 TD, 0 INT, Hunt 0-1, 0 yds., 0 TD, 0 INT.

Receiving - (15 catches, 192 yards) -Vondersaar 2-6, Diebold 5-37, Trent 4-80, C. Ensor 3-58, Francies 1-11.

Cloverdale:

Rushing - (27 Carries, 61 yards) - Smith 6-18, Morgan 9-17, Haltom 5-17, Dayhuff 2-6, Mescall 4-(-12), Cheatham 1-15.

Passing - (9-18-2-2, 97 yards) - Haltom 8-17, 73 yds., 1 TD, 2 INT, Cheatham 1-1, 24 yds., 1 TD, 0 INT.

Receiving - (9 catches, 97 yards) - Smith 2-19, Morgan 2-29, Cummings 1-5, Dayhuff 1-5, Cheatham 3-39.

Next Games: The Cougars (5-4, 3-3 WCC) travel to North Montgomery next Friday night for the first game of the sectional, with the game beginning at 7 p.m. The Clovers (4-5, 2-4 WCC) travel to South Vermillion next Friday night for the first game of the sectional, with the game beginning at 7 p.m.