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These Eagles not averse to adversity
South Putnam has been competing against more than it's daunting schedule this season. The Eagles' football team has advanced to the regional championship and an 11-1 record despite facing a seemingly endless line of injuries, illness and suspension that has put the team's depth to the test.
"It seems like we've had adversity every week," South Putnam coach Troy Burgess said, "and we bounce back. It's just kind of that next-man-up theory."
There have been nagging injuries and missed snaps here and there, but the notable trials began in week three.
The Eagles lost Tri-West on the final play of the game during the 2012 season, and after that, things were never the same. They still won seven games, but the soul of the team was different.
This year, after the loss to the Bruins, the team rallied and dug deeper.
The team's first big injury test came in week five, leading up to the Greencastle game. Senior Nathan Criss, the returning center and heart of the offensive line, reinjured his knee, ending his high school football career.
The next man up, Rudy Harris, began the season as a project on offense, spending time at fullback and around the field before slotting in at guard after Criss's injury. Senior Lane Hacker moved to center and the Eagles kept rolling.
In the sectional semifinal, when senior quarterback Sawyer Arnold was hurt on the Eagles first offensive play, the team scrambled for a bit, plugged in minimally experienced Grady McHugh, and got back to doing what they do.
Arnold played one snap in that game at West Washington, and he played one last week in the sectional championship at Indianapolis Lutheran. His kneel down sealed the win for the Eagles, but that came after the team's next unfavorable situation arose.
Senior Tayler Arnold was called for separate unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the game -- once for a helmet-to-helmet hit and later on an offsetting call where the referees reacted to the aftermath of a midfield block.
Getting two such penalties is an ejection, and in high school athletics that means a suspension from the next game. Tayler Arnold is the Eagles' middle linebacker, one of the team's top tacklers and he calls the plays on defense.
Junior Zane Yon, a defensive end much of the season, will start in his place.
"The next man up will step up, his teammates will support him and we'll be good to go," Burgess said.
The tough times have made winning even sweeter for the team up to this point, not just because of what it has overcome, but because even more players have been able to experience it.
There comes a point, though, where it becomes too much and instead of strengthening bonds, adversity reveals a crack.