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Cougars fall in first loss of football season
ROACHDALE - The North Putnam football team had Owen Valley on the ropes heading into halftime Saturday, but after a first-half touchdown the Pats shut down the Cougar offense and took the win 26-19.
North Putnam came out hot against the Patriots in its first WIC divisional game. The defense was good on all fronts in the first half, clogging lanes and keeping a blanket over the Owen Valley receivers.
The offense struggled at times in the first half, losing yardage and taking sacks, but the Cougars were able to bounce back on a lot of drives and kept the offense moving.
After an early field goal by Bailey Allen, the defense put a stop to an Owen Valley drive when Grant Ewbank fell on a fumble caused by the Cougars.
North Putnam then capitalized with a 30-yard pass to Daniel Huffman, in which Huffman had to come back to Hayden Rudes' throw and fight off a defender on the sideline.
Brad Hodges was able to cross the endzone a few plays later, but only after breaking two tackles while sprinting down the sidelines and squeezing inside the pylon with a defender trying to pull him out of bounds.
The Cougar defense held strong and a North Putnam pulled out a little trickery after the good punt return by Cameron McPherson.
North Putnam turned a sweep into a touchdown pass, when Hodges connected with Max Haste on a 16-yard halfback pass that caught the Patriots napping.
The defensive unit including Ewbank, Brayden White, Bobby Scheele among others continued to hassle the Patriot backs and apart from a few big Owen Valley catches the Cougar defensive backs did a good job of not letting receivers behind them.
Another Cougar stop led to an Allen field goal and despite a Patriot touchdown before the half, Cougar fans were thrilled to see North Putnam with a lead.
"Offensively we controlled the ball a lot better," NPHS coach Greg Barrett said. "That first opening drive was a ten-minute drive. We came out in the second half and we get those penalties and that's what hurt us. I think we made too many mistakes in the second half."
The half started rough for the Cougars. An Owen Valley quarterback keeper went untouched for 66-yards and a touchdown making the score 19-12.
Then after a Patriot stop, Owen Valley again scored making it a 19-18 game. North Putnam, however, was in good shape after a pair of flags on Owen Valley, the second of which, an unsportsmanlike conduct call, moved North Putnam into scoring range.
However a huge hit in the backfield forced a fumble and killed the drive as the Patriots recovered.
"I don't think they quit," Barrett said. "That's a positive. We kept fighting until the end. We just made mistakes that hurt us offensively; the high snaps, penalties. (Owen Valley) is a good football team. They ran the ball hard. They had some big backs and a big line."
The Pats then passed it all the way down the field for a score and the lead converting the two-point conversion.
North Putnam had a chance as the defense caused a three-and-out. Despite the Owen Valley poor punt and multiple chances inside the 30 with two minutes to go the Cougars could not come away with points.
North Putnam (2-1) is still in good shape however with Eastern division rival Brown County (1-2) coming next Friday and one loss in the divisional column. The Cougar coaching staff is focus on keeping the big picture in the mind of the players.
"You don't know who you are playing week nine," Barrett said. "We still have divisional opponents to play. Anything can happen between here and there. We just need to keep taking care of business week-by-week and see where it unfolds. It's a tough conference and I think each week will be a battle. We've got to learn from our mistakes and move on."
At North Putnam
OV 0 6 12 8 -- 26
NP 9 10 0 0 -- 19
1st Quarter
NP -- Allen 20 yd FG 3-0
NP -- Hodges 16 yd run (kick by Bailey was good) 9-0
2nd Quarter
NP --Hodges 16 yd pass to Haste (kick by Bailey was good) 16-0
NP -- Bailey 19 yd FG good 19-0
OV -- Burkett 16 yd TD run (2pt failed) 19-6
3rd Quarter
OV -- Burkett 66 yd run (2pt failed) 19-12
OV -- Burkett pass to Roe (2pt failed) 19-18
4th Quarter
OV --Townsend run 26-19
Rushing: 29-118
Hodges 10-67 Christy 6-19, Rudes 7-2, Jeter 3-12, Haste 1-13, Murray 1-9, Everts 1-7
Passing: Rudes 4-12-63 Hodges 1-1-16 (TD)
Receiving:
Haste 2-29, Hodges 1-8, Huffman 1-30, Christy 1-12
First Downs: 9