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Eagles advance, South Putnam defeats Sheridan 56-22
SHERIDAN -- Despite making a 136-mile round trip to Sheridan, the Eagles of South Putnam High School came out on top of a 56-22 score in gridiron action Friday, taking down the Blackhawks in the process to advance to next week's Sectional 45 Semi-final against the Mustangs of Fountain Central (8-2)
Junior running back Kyle Shaffer worked his magic on the ground Friday for the Eagles (7-3), racking up 186 yards and scoring four touchdowns. Fellow back, senior Brandon Gierke, also put up 186 yards on the ground while accounting for two of the team's seven overall touchdowns. Junior wide-out Dylan Wood scored the seventh touchdown of the night for the Eagles.
Coach Nathan Aker attributed the win to the entire team -- a total team effort, he said. But one defensive player especially caught his eye on Friday.
"The defense played really well -- Joey Masters had two sacks tonight that got him our school record," Aker continued. "He broke Ryan Chestnut's career record for sacks. He had 21 coming into tonight and got numbers 22 and 23. That's a big-time accomplishment for a kid who started every down since he was a freshman."
Shaffer was the first to score for either team. Shortly into the first quarter, Shaffer punched in the short touchdown rush, capping off a long drive and drawing first blood against Sheridan (3-7) and take the early lead. He then doubled his tally on the Eagles' next possession, scampering in for a two-yard touchdown rush to send the game into the second quarter with a 14-0 score in favor of South Putnam.
Aker didn't discount the Blackhawks, instead he showed great respect for the organization.
"We knew we were going to be playing against the best-coached team in the state of Indiana -- coach Bud Wright is a legend," Aker said. "What an honor to be able to come up here and play. South Putnam's had some great battles with Sheridan in the past, several years ago. It was really nice to come up here and relive some of that.
"The challenge tonight was (Blackhawk senior quarterback Jacob Chesney) -- he was fantastic," Aker continued. "The game-plan was to take him away and we were able to do that. Our offensive plan was to pound the rock."
South Putnam didn't score just once or twice in the second quarter, but four times. Although Sheridan put up one of its own in the second, it wasn't enough to overcome a landslide of scoring from the Eagles.
At the 11:14 mark in the second, Shaffer capped off yet another long drive with a two-yard score against the Blackhawk defense. Sheridan then responded with one of three successful drives, pounding in a one-yard rush from quarterback Chesney to cap off the drive.
However, with two more scores coming from Shaffer, and yet another by Gierke, the Eagles went into halftime with a 36-point lead, or 42-6.
Although the Eagles weren't quite done scoring (a huge Gierke-touchdown rush in the third, later followed by another third-quarter touchdown rush by junior wide-out Wood), the Blackhawks couldn't muster the strength to top their visitors and came away on the losing end of a 56-22 final score.
Coach Aker again credited his entire team, saying that no one player could have done it alone.
"We had a ton of guys carrying the ball -- the entire offensive line was just 'lights out,'" Aker said. "But we have to adjust our game plans a little each week and we have to do the little things and take care of business.
Asked about the upcoming game against Fountain Central, Aker replied "it's just going to get tougher as we go."
These guys have big goals, our program has big goals and we just have to do it one day at a time."
South Putnam returns to action Friday, Oct. 30 when they travel to Fountain Central, which defeated Rockville, 15-12.
At Sheridan High School
S Putnam 14 28 14 0 -- 56
Sheridan 0 6 0 16 -- 22
Scoring
1st Quarter
SP 9:30 Shaffer 2-yard rush (XP good) 7-0
SP 4:08 Shaffer 2-yard rush (XP good) 14-0
2nd Quarter
SP 11:14 Shaffer 4-yard rush (XP good) 21-0
SH 8:04 Chesney 1-yard rush (XP no good) 21-6
SP 7:45 Shaffer rush (XP good) 28-6
SP 2:41 Gierke rush (XP good) 35-6
SP 1:04 Shaffer fumble recovery for TD (XP good) 42-6
3rd Quarter
SP 10:53 Gierke rush (XP good) 49-6
SP 6:59 Wood rush (XP good) 56-6
4th Quarter
SH 7:49 Callahan 2-yard rush (Williams 2-yard run good) 56-14
SH 2:14 Burnell rush (Williams pass to Chesney good) 56-22
Statistics
Total yards: South Putnam 462
Rushing: Shaffer 14-186 (4 TD), Gierke 10-186 (2 TD), Wood 6-38 (1 TD)
Passing: McHugh 2-3-36 yards