North Putnam wins WCC title with shutout victory

Saturday, October 2, 2010

MONROVIA -- Undefeated North Putnam crushed Monrovia, 33-0, in one of its best performances of the season Friday in a West Central Conference game on Gordon Hadley Field.

The Cougars (7-0, 4-0 WCC) limited the Bulldogs (4-3, 2-2 WCC) to 85 yards rushing and five passing. They rolled up 281 yards rushing and quarterback Kolten Everts contributed 76 timely passing yards. Everts completed 6-of-9, didn't have an interception and also ran for 61 yards on nine carries and one touchdown.

North Putnam, the state's No. 4-ranked 2A team in the Associated Press poll and No. 5 by the coaches, had its usual strong and balanced ground attack. Speedy Travis Kratt had 55 yards on seven carries including 4- and 38-yard touchdown runs. Fullback Hank Spencer rushed 13 times for 72 yards and had a 10-yard touchdown run.

Kicker Cody Summerlot kicked field goals of 27 and 25 yards and was three-of-four on extra points.

"I'm happy we had a good game against a good team," North Putnam coach Greg Barrett said. "It's a rivalry and anything can happen."

The seeds of the rivalry were planted last year when Monrovia defeated North Putnam twice, including 7-6 in the sectional championship game. The Cougars had won six straight against the Bulldogs before 2009. It wasn't a game for revenge, this was between different teams in a different season, but it was still a game North Putnam wanted to win more than any other in the regular season.

"We talked to the team about last year a little, but this is a new year and we're playing with the goal of getting to Lucas Oil Stadium," Barrett said. "Our effort on defense was phenomenal. We stopped them on the outside and did a nice job on No. 43 (Darren Oliver). He's a big, tough kid."

Olvier a 230-pound fullback, is the key to Monrovia's run-oriented attack with his powerful inside-the-tackles running. North Putnam held him to 37 yards on 13 carries.

"We pursued to the ball extremely well," Barrett said.

Everts, a 6-foot-1, 165-pound quarterback with breakaway speed, has developed into a strong leader in his junior season.

"Kolten made some good reads running our offense," Barrett said.

North Putnam drove 54 yards on seven plays to reach the Monrovia 7-yard line on its first possession. But on third -and-four, Everts' hurried pitch to Jordan Murphy hit the ground. Murphy scooped it up, but lost 3 yards on the play.

Summerlot kicked a 27-yard field goal with 6:35 left in the first quarter.

"I was glad to see us score first," Barrett said. "It was one of our goals."

North Putnam marched 60 yards on nine plays for its first touchdown in the second quarter.

Murphy broke loose for a 22-yard gain on the first play and added a 9-yard run for the second first down of the drive. On third-and-9 from the 19, Everts completed a 12-yard pass to Murphy. Two plays later, Kratt scored a 4-yard run.

Leading 9-0 at the half, North Putnam's Jacob Smerage returned the second-half kickoff 25 yards to the 50-yard line and the Cougars scored in 10 plays to take a 16-0 lead.

The Cougars ripped off the yards in chunks. Murphy had a 10-yard run, Franklin an 11 and Spencer an 11. But a penalty put North Putnam into a fourth-and-5 situation. Everts passed 11 yards to Murphy for the first down to the Monrovia 14-yard line.

After a 5-yard penalty pushed North Putnam back, Spencer bolted for 9 yards and 10 yards for the touchdown. Summerlot's kick put the Cougars on top 16-0 with 6:20 remaining.

Spencer recovered a Monrovia fumble on the next play from scrimmage and returned it to the Bulldogs' 1. Everts plunged into the end zone two plays later and, with Summerlot's kick, the Cougars had extended their lead to 23-0.

Early in the fourth quarter, Kratt burst 38 yards for a touchdown. The Cougars drove 58 yards on three plays.

Summerlot's 25-yard field goal with 6:17 remaining completed North Putnam's scoring.

At Monrovia

North Putnam 3 6 14 10 -- 33

Monrovia 0 0 0 0 -- 0

First quarter

NP -- FG Summerlot 27 at 6:35

Second quarter

NP -- Kratt 4 run (kick failed) at 8:50

Third quarter

NP --Spencer 10 run (Summerlot kick) at 6:20

NP -- Everts 1 run (Summerlot kick) at 4:56

Fourth quarter

NP -- Kratt 38 run (Summerlot kick) at 10:03

NP -- FG Summerlot 25 at 6:17

Individual statistics

Rushing-- NP--Spencer 13-72, Everts 9-56, Kratt 7-55, Murphy 7-50, Franklin 7-30, St. C. Vondersaar 1-7, Victor 1-5, A. Vondersaar 1-1; M--Clements 6-50, Oliver 13-37, Fairfield 5-16, Dillon 4-9, Roberts 1-4, Ellis 2-3, Klampe 5- (-3), Michel 1- (-31).

Passing -- NP--Everts 6-9-0 76; M--Clements 1-8-1 5.

Receiving -- NP--Murphy 3-26, Spencer 2-37, Franklin 1-13; M--Sichting 1-5.

Interception -- NP--C. Vondersaar.

Missed field goal -- NP--Summerlot 37.

Team statistics

First downs -- NP 12, M 6. Penalties: NP 5-40, M 1-15. Fumbles-lost: NP 6-3, M 4-4.