Eagles lose bruiser to Bruins 22-7

South Putnam sophomore Lucas Lorian hurdles in for a touchdown in a game earlier this year. Lorian had 177 yards the Eagles loss at Tri-West. (Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN)

LIZTON -- The South Putnam Eagles were on the road Friday night, losing a physical bout at Tri-West against the Bruins, 22-7.

The game looked like it could get out of hand very early as the Bruins received the opening kick and drove down the field easily and put the ball in the endzone on a 26-yard quarterback keeper by junior Jake Hendershot. The extra point attempt was blocked by senior Joe Waters to keep the game at 6-0.

The ensuing drive by the Eagles (1-1) ate up several minutes of clock but SPHS could not put a score on the board. The play of the drive was a scramble by senior quarterback Sawyer Arnold in which he rolled out to the left sideline when he found nobody open for a pass.

Arnold then peeled back, broke a tackle and after a bone-shattering block by Waters, made it all the way across the field and got out of bounds for a first down.

After a facemask penalty on the offensive Eagles, Arnold threw an incomplete pass, then junior Lucas Lorian broke a huge run for 33 yards and the Eagles had new life. SPHS gained nine yards the next three plays and were forced to go for it on fourth-and-one. Lorian made the play and gained three yards to convert.

The drive stalled and the Bruins scored again on the ensuing drive, an an 85-yard effort that only took 2:45 off the clock. Hendershot punched it in from a yard out to take a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter.

"Offensively when they needed to make plays, they made them," SPHS coach Troy Burgess said. "The Hendershot kid is as good of a quarterback as there is, he's a great football player."

The Eagles came out with a vengeance on their next possession, putting together a perfect drive. Arnold handed the ball off to Lorian three straight times for three straight first downs on runs of 11, 12 and 15 yards.

Arnold then threw to senior Wes Riner for a gain of nine yards and then, on the very next play, completed a perfect pass to senior Klayton Vittetow, who toe-tapped in bounds for the catch at the 10-yard line for a gain of 31 yards.

The next play Arnold took it on himself for a 10-yard keeper that capped off a 6-play 86 yard drive the lasted 2 minutes and cut the lead to six, 13-7, in Tri-West's favor.

The Bruins got the ball back and stalled at the visitor's 20-yard line. The Bruins unexpectedly brought out their field goal kicker, junior Thomas Tintera, and he booted it through the uprights and more for a 40-yard field goal to tack on to the lead and extend it to 16-7.

The ball went back and forth until the Bruins had it at their 32-yard line. TWHS tried to run a draw but an Eagle got into the backfield, stripped the ball and sophomore Joe Masters recovered it with 1:04 left in the half.

The Eagles could not do anything with it. After they got inside the five line they were stalled on third down. Their field goal attemp on fourth down was blocked. The Bruins kneeled it and the game went to the half.

"I thought (in the redzone) defensively we were great, Offensively we were terrible. In a two year period against Tri-West we are 3-10 in red zone conversions, you can't win games like that," Burgess said.

When the game got started back up the Eagles stalled on their first possesion of the half and were forced to punt. As soon as they did, lightning was spotted in the area meaning there would be a delay.

The delay lasted 43 minutes and cleared out half the crowd. The Bruins came out of the delay strong and after an intercepted pass with 4:31 left in the third, Hendershot hooked up with sophomore Wesley Cook on a 69-yard touchdown pass. That padded the score to 22-7 and the Bruins did not relinquish it.

The Eagles' next best time to score came after a punt by the Bruins. SPHS marched it all the way down to the redzone but Arnold fumbled the ball at the one-yard line and the Bruins recovered in the end zone.

"Sawyer will make something happen everytime," Burgess said. "He can make some great plays with his legs. Sometimes it helps sometimes it doesn't."

The Bruins ate up the rest of the clock to hang on for the win.

Lucas Lorian was the story of the night for the Eagles, carrying the ball over and over into the mouth of the defense. He looked unstoppable at times. He finished with 29 carries for 170 yards.

"I thought he ran hard, he did a great job. He always runs hard," Burgess said.

At Tri-West
South Putnam 0 7 0 0 -- 7
Tri-West 6 10 6 0 -- 22