Cougars, Tiger Cubs look to advance to finals

GREENCASTLE -- No coach will admit to looking too far ahead in their season, but with one win on Friday, North Putnam's Greg Barrett and Greencastle's Eric Davis will find themselves in the sectional final, a fact that neither coach can ignore.

For North Putnam, it would be the fourth time in five years they find themselves in the finals. However, it would be the first time the Tiger Cubs have reached the finals in the past 16 years.

Monrovia (6-4) at North Putnam (10-0)

In 18 meetings, the Cougars hold a 12-6 advantage, with their latest win coming Oct. 1 when they defeated the Bulldogs 33-0.

The Cougars felt the sting of two heartbreaking losses to the Bulldogs last season, including the loss that knocked them out of the tournament. It will be the Bulldogs that stand in their way for possible sectional glory and a quest for a state championship.

Barrett spoke highly of Monrovia after the Cougars' sectional opening win.

"That's a good ballclub, there's no doubt about that," he said. "We'll prepare to take away the things that they do. We know they're going to run the ball, so we'll have another good, hard week of practice working on these things."

North Putnam advanced to its second-round battle with Monrovia by defeating South Putnam 40-7.

Cascade (4-6) at Greencastle (5-5)

In regards to a sectional championship, Greencastle has found itself on the outside looking in for more than a decade, but Davis and crew are looking to change that.

The Cadets hold a 10-6 edge in the teams' last 16 meetings. In their Oct. 8 meeting, which the Cadets won 19-13, it took Cascade overtime to overcome a scrappy Tiger Cubs squad.

Greencastle's last win against the Cadets came in the 2008 season when it throttled the Cadets 47-14 en route to a 5-5 record on the season.

Since the Cascade loss this season, Greencastle has won two straight, blanking Owen Valley at Lucas Oil Stadium 35-0 and then edging Cloverdale 27-24 on a late field goal from Kyle Parker.

Davis said after both the Owen Valley and Cloverdale games, the improved play of the Tiger Cubs was a result of a good week of practice leading into the contests.

All four teams remaining in sectional are West Central Conference teams. Overall, the Cougars' high-powered offense has scored 188 more points than the Bulldogs, and their defense has allowed 121 fewer.

On the flipside, five points on the offensive end separate Greencastle and Cascade, but the Tiger Cubs' stout defense has allowed 87 fewer.

If things shake out like the Putnam County faithful hope, we'll be looking at a North Putnam/Greencastle sectional final on Nov. 5. No matter the outcome, if that scenario happens, it will be one heck of a night for football fans.

The squads are set to kickoff Friday at 7 p.m.