South Putnam earns 35-21 win over Cadets

Saturday, October 17, 2015

CLAYTON -- Led by a solid defensive performance and a rushing attack from Kyle Shaffer and Brandon Gierke, South Putnam was able to close out its regular season with a 35-21 win at Cascade on Friday.

Shaffer led all rushers with 179 yards on 20 carries and three touchdowns. Gierke only carried the ball seven times but still managed 93 yards and a touchdown.

"We've got really great running backs," South Putnam coach Nathan Aker said. "I'm really proud of what they've done all season, and it was nice to see that tonight. We've been banged up after playing two really tough teams. The confidence was down. It was nice to have some success early and be able to get after it a little bit there."

The Eagles jumped out to a 14-0 lead after the first quarter and a 28-0 lead at the half. After forcing Cascade to punt on its opening drive, the Eagles set the tone with a 12-play, 81-yard drive that ended with a one-yard run by Shaffer.

Almost a minute later, Will Cruse picked up a mishandled snap and ran it back 63 yards for the score.

Another fumble recovery before the end of the quarter led to Shaffer's second touchdown of the night, a 14-yard scamper to put the Eagles ahead 21-0.

Shaffer found the end zone again before the end of the half, this time for a 38-yard score.

Gierke's score came on a 34-yard run with 3:32 to go in the third quarter for a 35-0 Eagle lead.

It wasn't until the fourth quarter and the starters on the bench that Cascade scored its 21 points.

"Our defense played lights out all night," Aker said. "We knew they had a couple guys we wanted to key on there and we took them away early. We challenged the team on Monday that we wanted to get four turnovers and we had four in the first half. One was called back, but I was very, very pleased with what the kids did on defense.

"Jonathan Thibodeau had a heck of a night, knocking passes down, catching passes. Dylan Wood, Jonah Sanders, Dalton Scott -- they had them covered up all night and it was great to see that."

South Putnam threw the ball just five times all night. Grady McHugh was 1 of 4 for 26 yards and Allen Plunkett was 1 of 1 for 32 yards.

The Eagles improve to 6-3 overall and finish 4-2 in the Western Indiana Conference. Cascade drops to 4-5 overall and finishes 3-3 in the WIC.

Next up, the Eagles have the task of traveling to Sheridan in the opening round of the Class 1A sectional. Aker said along with containing its versatile quarterback, the team will have to play clean all-around.

"We have a tall task next week with Sheridan," he said. "We have to eliminate our penalties and be smarter there. If you're going to go on the road in the playoffs and try to win a game you can't have that."

At Cascade

South Putnam 14 14 7 0 - 35

Cascade 0 0 0 21 -- 21

First Quarter

SP: Kyle Shaffer 1-yard run (XP good) 3:28

SP: Will Cruse 63-yard fumble recovery (XP good) 2:29

Second Quarter

SP: Shaffer 14-yard run (XP good) 10:36

SP: Shaffer 38-yard run (XP good) 4:45

Third Quarter

SP: Brandon Gierke 34-yard run (XP good) 3:32

Fourth Quarter

C: Gavin Blackburn 1-yard fumble recovery (XP no good) 11:04

C: Isaac Guerendo 19-yard reception from Chase Edwards (XP good) 3:22

C: Guerendo 12-yard reception from Edwards (2 pt. conversion good) 35.8

Rushing: Shaffer 20-179 3TD, Gierke 7-93 TD, LeBlanc 4-18, Scott 3-14, Zeffel 1-6, Cain 5-8, Rutter 2-7, Plunkett 4-1, Higgins 1-0, McHugh 3-(-28).

Passing: McHugh 1-4 26 INT, Plunkett 1-1 32.

Receiving: Gierke 1-26, Scott 1-32.

Turnovers: 2

Cascade

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