North Putnam cruises to 3-0 with 31-point victory

Saturday, September 4, 2010
North Putnam's Hank Spencer rushed for 52 yards on 11 carries Friday in the Cougars' 38-7 win.

ROACHDALE -- North Putnam football coach Greg Barrett said Friday's 38-7 home victory over Cascade was a testament to his players' character.

After being flagged seven times for 70 yards and turning the ball over twice, the Cougars went into halftime with only a 7-0 lead. North Putnam responded to that adversity by scoring the first 31 second-half points and didn't allow a touchdown until the final minute of the contest.

The Cougars improved to 3-0 and 1-0 in West Central Conference action, while Cascade dropped to 0-3 and 0-2 in league play.

North Putnam could have gone into halftime with a 21-0 lead, but Jordan Murphy had a 47-yard touchdown run called back because of a holding penalty, and Allain St. Victor had a 47-yard run that would have put the Cougars on the Cadet 1-yard line called back because of another holding penalty.

"We were able to clean things up in the second half," Barrett said. "Those two touchdowns that we had called back because of the holding penalties I thought were really bad calls and the referees realized that too late. But those two calls were good in a sense that it forced us to show how we could handle adversity as a team."

The only time North Putnam was penalized in the second half was a 15-yarder after a kickoff went out of bounds. The Cougars scored on each of their second-half possessions until taking a knee in the final seconds.

The Cougars scored in all facets of the game Friday. North Putnam's first score came with 15 seconds left in the opening quarter on Travis Franklin's 24-yard fumble recovery. The Cougars also had two rushing touchdowns and a 15-yard pass from Kolten Everts to Travis Kratt for a score. Senior Caleb Vondersaar also had a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Franklin scored two touchdowns in the victory.

The Cougars also scored on Cody Summerlot's 25-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

"Our special teams just played great tonight," Barrett said.

North Putnam went to the ground game Friday, rushing 41 times for 273 yards. Four different Cougars had at least 40 yards. Jordan Murphy had 10 carries for 76 yards, while Franklin had seven carries for 67 yards. Hank Spencer had 11 carries for 52 yards, while Kratt had four carries for 40 yards.

"The good thing about this team is that we have a bunch of different guys that can carry the ball," Barrett said. "They all work hard and there is no me me on this team. They don't really care who carries the ball and they are all about getting the team a win."

North Putnam's defense held Cascade to negative rushing yards until Austin Butler's 66-yard touchdown run with 1:13 remaining in the contest. It was the Cadets' first points of the season.

North Putnam returns to WCC action 7 p.m. Friday when it travels to Putnam County rival South Putnam.

At Roachdale

North Putnam 38, Cascade 7

Cascade 0 0 0 7 -- 7

North Putnam 7 0 21 10 -- 38

First quarter

NP -- Travis Franklin 24-yard fumble recovery (Summerlot kick), :15

Third quarter

NP -- Kratt 15-yard pass from Everts (Summerlot kick), 8:00

NP -- C. Vondersaar 67-yard punt return (Summerlot kick), 6:00

NP -- Franklin 28-yard run (Summerlot kick), 3:08

Fourth quarter

NP -- Kratt 10-yard run (Green kick), 6:20

NP -- Summerlot 25-yard field goal, 3:15

C -- Butler 69-yard run (Butler kick), 1:13

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing -- Cascade, Bobidilla 3-0, Smith 8- (minus) 16, Arthur 3-0, Blinn 1-3, Butler 3-66. North Putnam, Everts 6-27, Franklin 7-67, Murphy 10-76, Spencer 11-52, Kratt 4-40, St. Victor 2-27, C. Vondersaar 1 (minus) 12, Smith 1 (minus) 4.

Passing -- Cascade, Smith 8-21-21 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD. North Putnam, Everts 4-10-54 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT.

Receiving -- Cascade, Baldwin 2-16, Butler 3-9, Scott 1- (minus) 3, Arthur 2- (minus) 1. North Putnam, Franklin 1-4, Spencer 2-35, Kratt 1-15.