Menu
Cougars come alive in second half
ROACHDALE -- North Putnam Cougars football team, ranked either 1st or 3rd in Class 2A, depending on the poll, opened the 2008 season Saturday night, hosting the North Posey Vikings.
The Cougars, after a shaky start in the first quarter, committing two turnovers that led to nine North Posey points, played to their pre-season expectations during the rest of game, thrashing the Vikings, 35-9
After the first quarter, the Cougars controlled all aspects of the game, generating 437 yards in total offense, while limiting the Vikings to 230.
Due to the turnovers in the first quarter, the Cougars only generated 13 yards in offense in the period, but North Putnam gained momentum on both sides of the ball in the second period.
North Posey was driving down the field, but a quarterback sack by Dustin Trinkle and Seth Vondersaar stopped the drive.
The Cougars got on the scoreboard 1:42 later, as Griffen Dahlstrom scored on a 29-yard run, capping a balanced drive in which quarterback Scott Hunt hit passes to Jerrett Ban before Dahlstrom's touchdown run.
In the third quarter, North Putnam broke the game open by scoring three touchdowns and defensively stopping North Posey throughout the stanza.
Ban scored on a 24-yard run at 10:25, and then after Jim Davis forced and Vondersaar recovered a Viking fumble on the next series, Dahlstrom scored again on a 12-yard run with 9:35 showing on the clock.
After the Cougar defense forced North Posey to punt on the next series, North Putnam drove down the field on runs by Shawn Diebold, Dahlstrom and Rob Ford. With 2:43 left in the period, Hunt hit Caleb Vondersaar with a 2-yard pass to score the final touchdown of the period, giving the Cougars a 28-9 lead going into the final period.
Midway through the fourth quarter, with his team in total control of the game, North Putnam head coach Greg Barrett substituted his starters.
Sophomore Travis Kratt and freshman Hank Spencer ran the ball down the field in the next Cougar offensive series, and freshman quarterback Kolten Everts broke away to rush for a 65-yard touchdown run with 2:43 left in the game to provide the final points for North Putnam, and the final score of 35-9.
It was a great team win for North Putnam to kick off the season, as the offense, defense and special teams all contributed key plays in the game to defeat the Vikings.
"We saw some weaknesses with North Posey's height in the back field, that caused problems for us early in the game," Coach Barrett said following the game.
"In the second quarter we did make some momentum drives that got us into the end zone and that turned the game around for us," added Barrett.
Dahlstrom gained 230 yards on 19 carries to lead the Cougars in rushing. Everts followed with 62 yards on two carries, Spencer had 20 on two carries, Diebold had 19 yards on three runs, and Ban ran for 18 yards on three carries, Ford had nine yards on four runs, Hunt ran for four yards on four carries, and Kratt had one yard on one carry.
As a team, North Putnam gained 363 rushing yards compared to North Posey's 114 yards on the ground.
The Cougars were 5-for-10 through the air for 74 yards. Quarterback Scott Hunt hit Ban with three passes for 64 yards, Diebold and Vondersaar with passes of 8 and 2 yards respectively.
North Putnam passed for 74 yards compared to North Posey's 116 yards.
Defensively, the Cougars were led by Aaron Vondersaar with 11 tackles, followed by Dahlstrom with seven.
The Cougars (1-0, 0-0 WCC) travel to New Market Friday night to play Southmont. The game begins at 7 p.m.
At North Putnam
North Putnam 0 7 21 7 -- 35
North Posey 9 0 0 0 -- 9
First Quarter
North Posey -- Little 37 FG 8:14
North Posey -- Sapp 5 run (Little kick) 1:22
Second Quarter
North Putnam -- Dahlstrom 29 run (Dahlstrom kick) 3:18
Third Quarter
North Putnam -- Ban 24 run (Dahlstrom kick) 10:25
North Putnam -- Dahlstrom 12 run (Dahlstrom kick) 9:35
North Putnam -- Hunt to Caleb Vondersaar 2 pass (Dahlstrom kick) 2:43
Fourth Quarter
North Putnam -- Everts 65 run (Ford kick) 2:43
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs -- North Putnam (12), North Posey (16)
Punts-Yards - North Putnam (1-42), North Posey (6-222)
Fumbles-Lost - North Putnam (3-1), North Posey (1-1)
Penalties-Yards - North Putnam (5-66), North Posey (5-54)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
North Putnam (1-0, 0-0 WCC):
Rushing - (38 Carries, 363 yards) -- Hunt 4-4, Dahlstrom 19-230, Ban 3-18, Diebold 3-19, Ford 4-9, Everts 2-62, Kratt 1-1, Spencer 2-20.
Passing - (5-10-1-1, 74 yards) -- Hunt 5-10, 74 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT.
Receiving - (5 catches, 74 yards) -- Ban 3-64, Diebold 1-8, Vondersaar 1-2.
North Posey (0-1, 0-0 PAC):
Rushing - (35 Carries, 114 yards) -- Smith 6-(-22), Ricker 1-21, Sapp 7-13, Rynkiewich 21-102.
Passing - (13-30-0-0, 116 yards) -- Smith 13-30, 116 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT.
Receiving - (13 catches, 116 yards) -- Ricker 4-44, Rynkiewich 5-36, Kerchief 1-14, McDaniel 2-10, Pearson 1-12.
Next Game: The Cougars (1-0, 0-0 WCC) travel to New Market Friday night to play Southmont. The game begins at 7 p.m.