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Eagles thwart Cloverdale at home in opener
Is it the end of summer, or the beginning of fall?
Either way, the South Putnam Eagles and the Cloverdale Clovers battled each other Friday night at South Putnam High School in each school's respective season-opener.
South Putnam (1-0, 1-0 WIC) took on the visitors from Cloverdale (0-1, 0-1 WIC), winning in style as the Eagles soared to a 40-6 victory.
Eagle head coach Nathan Aker was thrilled to kick off the season with a win over his neighbors to the south.
"I've got a great staff -- they've done a great job," Aker said. "All of our coaches are great, but especially coach (Trevor) Yates who's got the offense back and he's doing his thing.
"They've really done a great job of getting our kids to get to the ball and take the ball away," Aker added, referring to the Clovers' fumbles. "We're going to do what we're going to do."
South Putnam's senior quarterback Grady McHugh couldn't get the passing game going, attempting five passes for zero yards. However, freshman Allen Plunkett fared better as he completed two passes for 45 yards and a touchdown.
Turning to the run, each team chewed up yardage with the Eagles coming out on top. With 282 total yards rushing, and compared to the Clovers' zero yards rushing, one can easily discern the key of the game.
The first score came quick in the first quarter from the Eagles. After pounding his way down the field, junior Kyle Shaffer broke loose on a 26-yard run to draw first-blood and put his team up 7-0.
Shaffer, who rushed 23 times for 190 yards and three touchdowns, described what it was like to start the rushing game for his junior season.
"It felt great," Shaffer said after the game. "With the offensive line that we have this year, it's pretty easy. They open up big holes and I'm lucky to have them.
"I love playing with the (team), they work their hearts out every practice," Shaffer added. "It's a pleasure to be on the field with them."
Entering the second quarter up by seven, the Eagles turned around and put 19 more on the board to enter the break ahead 26-0. Freshman Dalton Scott got his first career touchdown when he punched in a 1-yard score while fellow freshman Allen Plunkett threw a touchdown strike to South Putnam senior Jimmy Rutter. Upperclassman Shaffer added another score of his own before the break.
Opening the second half with this 26-point lead, South Putnam once again took to the ground, punishing Cloverdale in the process.
And it wasn't just on the ground in the third. Rutter came up big, returning a punt for a 62-yard touchdown to officially put their opponents down by 40 to enter the fourth quarter.
Though Cloverdale has started its season with a loss, head coach Tony Meyer said there were things to take away from such a game.
"We need to work on our execution, our personnel and we're going to have to find another route to where we need to be," Meyer said. "We have a long way to go. Granted, we're young and the nerves, panic, fear comes in to play. It was rough, any way you slice it."
The fourth quarter went as expected. With such a large lead to begin the final session (40-0) South Putnam ran the ball 10 times in an attempt to run out the clock. However, they decided to put one in the air, resulting with an interception when freshman Garrett Hamilton picked off then-quarterback Christian Zeffel.
Zeffel returned the pick all the way to the 12-yard line, setting up a 12-yard Cloverdale score from sophomore running back Tyce Jackson, giving the game its final score of 40-6.
South Putnam will host Brown County High School next Friday beginning at 7 p.m. Cloverdale will be back in action Friday when the Tiger Cubs from Greencastle come to play.
At South Putnam
South Putnam 7 19 14 0 - 40
Cloverdale 0 0 0 6 - 6
Scoring
1st Quarter
SP 8:15 Shaffer 26-yard rush (XP good)
2nd Quarter
SP 8:09 Scott 1-yard rush (XP good)
SP 5:12 Plunkett 12-yard pass to Rutter (XP no good)
SP 0:40 Shaffer 1-yard rush (conversion no good)
3rd Quarter
SP 7:11 Shaffer 9-yard rush (XP good)
SP 4:30 Rutter 62-yard punt return (XP good)
4th Quarter
CL 4:02 Jackson 12-yard rush (XP no good)
Statistics
Total Yards
South Putnam 51-336; Cloverdale 38-102
Rushing
South Putnam Shaffer 23-190; Gierke 5-23; Scott 4-11; McHugh 2-5; LeBlanc 4-8
Cloverdale Watts 9-(-22); Jackson 15-45; Kaeft 3-4; Winders 2-(-5)
Passing
South Putnam Plunkett 2-2-45; McHugh 0-5-0
Cloverdale Watts 1-3-7
Receiving
South Putnam Weiland 1-33; Rutter 1-12
Cloverdale Henry 1-7
1st Downs
South Putnam 12; Cloverdale 3
4th Down Conversions
South Putnam 1-2; Cloverdale 0-0
Turnovers
South Putnam 2; Cloverdale 2
Penalties
South Putnam 6-60; Cloverdale 6-30