Fourth-quarter surge lifts Eagles past Cougars 22-7

South Putnam sophomore Jimmy Rutter hauls in a one-handed catch during the second quarter against North Putnam on Friday. Rutter had 18 yards receiving in the game. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

ROACHDALE -- The North Putnam football team entered Friday's game against rival South Putnam with a clear game plan: control the clock, play smart and stop the Eagles from running.

For the first three quarters it worked to perfection but in the fourth South Putnam broke through and came away with a 22-7 win.

The close game was expected for the No. 6 Eagles (3-1, 1-0 WCC), head coach Troy Burgess said.

South Putnam's Lucas Lorian carries North Putnam's Tyler Land for a few extra yards. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN

"This is exactly what I thought it would be," he said. "It was a four quarter war and I knew it would be."

North Putnam (0-4, 0-2 WCC) loaded the box defensively to stop junior tailback Lucas Lorian, as most teams do, but the Cougars' sure tackling and containment on the edge was an improvement from previous games.

Stopping the Eagles' predictable offense is a stiff challenge, but that alone wasn't going to be enough. North Putnam coach Greg Barrett said his team came in knowing it had to play well, and it also had to make big, momentum-changing plays.

"We preached this week about creating turnovers and those guys did a great job of trying to get the ball and swarming to the ball on defense," Barrett said. "These kids work hard and good things happen to good people. I think sooner or later we're going to get it turned around."

The first came midway through the first quarter. NPHS milked three minutes off the clock on its five-play drive to open the game, then was forced to punt.

On the return, Eagles senior Klayton Vittetow escaped a few tackles but left the ball away from his body. Senior Garrett Plessinger recovered the fumble and NPHS got the ball back before the South Putnam could run a play.

"Those are things that we can fix," Burgess said. "We've got to clean it up. You can't put the ball on the ground and you can't have penalties."

North Putnam senior Tyler Land (25) shakes three tacklers to pick up a few extra yards. Land had 55 yards and a touchdown for the Cougars. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

Eight rushes, four minutes and a 15-yard late hit penalty later and senior tailback Tyler Land got into the end zone for the Cougars first lead since the second quarter in week one.

North Putnam's defense dominated most of the first, wrapping up tacklers and preventing the Eagles from getting into a rhythm. Shortening the game and playing mistake-free football was their best chance to win, Barrett said, and they played like it.

Senior middle linebacker Grant Bryan had 14 tackles in the first half, letting his linemen occupy blockers so he was free to fly around the field and make plays.

The Eagles moved the ball well, and outgained the Cougars 159-56 yard from scrimmage in the first half, but every time they got close they were forced into a mistake.

Lorian got SPHS on the board for the first time with four seconds left in the half to tie the score, but it didn't get any easier in the third quarter.

"I thought, defensively, we played extremely well tonight," Barrett said. "That's the best we've swarmed to the ball all year."

Cougars' revamp O for rushing rival

By MASON ASHER
For the Banner Graphic

ROACHDALE -- The North Putnam Cougars scrapped their usual jet package and turned into a Wing-T run offense against the South Putnam Eagles on Friday night, a plan that worked perfectly as the Cougars had no trouble moving the ball and controlling the clock.

"I don't know if we changed much, we just condensed our formations," North Putnam head coach Greg Barrett said.

The Cougars mixed in some efficient passing late in the game, but ran the ball almost exclusively for the first three quarters. Senior Gabe McFadden had his best night throwing the ball all season long. McFadden completed 7-for -11 passes for 51 yards with an interception.

The rushing attack of the Cougars was the real story on the night. Plessinger and senior Grant Bryan were lined up in the backfield for most of the night in the Wing-T.

That formation opened up room on the edge for when the Cougars wanted to sweep the ball across the Eagles defense.

The Cougars regularly got nice runs up the middle then bounced them outside with Land. The senior led NPHS Friday night with 15 carries for 61 yards and senior Kaleb Belcher had nine carries for 37 yards. Plessinger ran the ball hard from his spot in the backfield racking up 16 yards on five carries despite his 5-foot-9, 170-pound frame.

With their rushing attack, the Cougars ate up a bunch of clock and led the time of possession. The Eagles figured out how to stop the NPHS attack at the half and the Cougars discontinued running the ball down the middle of the defense. North Putnam was forced to run it outside and the Eagles defense shut it down.

"They moved the ball on us, but when we needed to get a stop, we got a stop. I was proud of our defense," South Putnam coach Troy Burgess said.

McFadden looked sharp in the pocket tonight and when he had to scramble, he got out of there. He was sacked four times because the line broke down, but besides that he looked very comfortable.

He progressed through his reads, found open receivers and did not try to fit the ball into tough spots. He had one interception, a desperation heave late in the game. But besides that throw and one other, McFadden played spectacularly.

The Cougar receivers were in great spots throughout the final quarter, catching every ball that was on target. Senior Beau Green had three catches for 31 yards, fellow seniors Tyler Land and Garrett Plessinger had one catch for 10 yards and two catches for 15 yards, respectively. Junior Danny Smith rounded the Cougars out with one catch for 16 yards.

If the Cougars can sustain this type of offensive workload and the defense could play to their capabilities the Cougars should be a force to be reckoned with the remainder of the year. The Cougars offense showed new life and the defense should be ready to go as always next week.

The Eagles punted with nine minutes left in the quarter and the Cougars ran up the middle, straight into the Eagles' massive defensive front, for the next ten minutes of game time.

"We just had to be patient and get a stop defensively," Burgess said. "We had had some success moving the ball, but we had to stop them. They did a great job of holding it and getting first downs."

The Eagles' running game works best when it's able to wear out the opponent's defense down through volume, but with North Putnam keeping the clock rolling, SPHS wasn't able to do that.

Lorian finally started to find holes and break tackles in the fourth quarter. His bruising 24-yard run with 8:40 left was the first time all game he slipped out of tackles and showcased his game-breaking ability.

Senior quarterback Sawyer Arnold took the ball in the final 24 yards two plays later when he found daylight after a play action fake took out most of the Cougars' defense.

"Our defense made a stop when we needed it and we were able to get the thing in the endzone," Burgess said.

South Putnam's first lead of the game came at 7:20 in the fourth, but the Cougars appeared overwhelmed by the way it happened. North Putnam fumbled the ensuing kickoff then came out flat on defense.

Senior back Wes Riner punched in a five-yard score after just three plays.

Now facing a deficit, the Cougars had to get away from their game plan. Senior quarterback Gabe McFadden attempted just one pass for the first three quarters but started airing it out in the fourth. He was 6-for-10 for 59 yards in the quarter, his most efficient passing performance of the season, but a late interception by Vittetow sealed the game.

Lorian finished with 32 carries and 158 yards. Arnold was 4-for-8 passing for 34 yards.

"Greg (Barrett) did a great job game-planning for this and they followed his plan," Burgess said. "When they put that five- and six-man front and loaded the box, we had to spread it out and throw the football. I think that's the difference in our team this year from last year.

"Last year we weren't able to spread things out and do some things. This year Sawyer has really matured, his decision making is better and we're able to do some things when people load the box on us."

Land (15 carries, 61 yards) and senior Kaleb Belcher (nine carries, 37 yards) led the Cougars. Bryan finished with 21 tackles.

North Putnam travels to North Daviess on Friday for its next chance to get the season's first win at 7 p.m.

South Putnam will get right back into the Putnam County game, hosting Greencastle (4-0) on Friday at 7 p.m.

At North Putnam
South Putnam............0 7 0 15 -- 22
North Putnam............7 0 0 0 -- 7