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North Putnam tops Paoli in wild finish, Monrovia next
ROACHDALE-- It was fourth down with three minutes to go Friday and the ball was on the 35-yard line. North Putnam was up 33-24 and the defense needed a stop against Paoli, which had proven itself capable of driving down the field.
"This is it right here," yelled Cougar coach Greg Barrett as the defense lined up.
Paoli snapped the ball and the quarterback was immediately hounded as he had been all game, this time by Ethan Christy.
The ball was thrown high and the receiver slipped allowing North Putnam to take possession on downs leading to its 40-32 sectional semifinal victory Friday.
It's all about never quitting and playing the next play like it's your last play," Barrett said. "It's all 100 percent, full-go. They did that tonight and I'm proud of them."
The Cougars took early control of the game when after a few punts back and forth North Putnam forced a fumble that Kyler Jeter recovered to give the Cougars good position.
Then after Jeter bowled over a few Rams to earn a first down, Max Haste took advantage of the giant hole opened by the offensive line and ran 40 yards for a touchdown.
North Putnam's defense then made another big play, blocking the punt, putting the offense in good position.
Into the second Hayden Rudes threw a pass to Cameron McPherson who got the ball down to the 25-yard line.
It was then Jeter again forcing his way into scoring position as the Rams had a hard time bringing the 200-pound junior down.
"We made some mistakes defensively but offensively Max Haste and Kyler Jeter stepped up and ran the ball extremely hard," Barrett said. "We knew they could do those things. We knew we had guys that have got speed and can get to the outside. Tonight it just wasn't working.
"Our best game was getting downhill and we did a good job of that. Our offensive line did a good job of fanning out and staying on their blocks. That was critical tonight. We came back and put together some really nice drives so I'm proud of there effort, Barrett added."
From the 10-yard line it was Brad Hodges what made a few Paoli defenders miss and he beat the pursuit to the pylon to make the score 14-0.
Paoli struck back with a long pass that led to a seven-yard touchdown run, making the score 14-6.
North Putnam continued the running game using Jeter to get the ball into scoring range. Jeter had 108 yards rushing and played a big role in almost every Cougar score.
His rushing on the second-quarter drive led to a one-yard sneak by Rudes.
Paoli then turned to the passing game and drove all the way down the field to make the score 20-12 before halftime.
"Give those guys credit they never quit," Barrett said. "Every film I watch on them, they'll never quit. They showed that again with the trick play."
Paoli opened the third with an 85-yard touchdown run after a few playes to pull within two points in the third.
The Cougar offense struggled but Daniel Huffman placed the punt on the one-yard line, making it difficult for the Rams to move the ball.
The game began to speed up in the fourth when Paoli utilized the pass again and threw down the field mostly to Dawson Easterday and capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to take the lead 24-20 for the first time.
"With us it was just not letting the momentum change get us down," Barrett said. "We talked about momentum and I think we did a good job of that. We didn't drop our heads. We did what we wanted to do in that scenario. There's been a couple games past we had a nice lead and momentum changed. Then we lost those games. Tonight we learned from this victory and that's huge for us."
Hayden Rudes answered back with a 15-yard pass to Hodges. Haste then followed with another first-down run.
Haste then scored after Jeter again put the ball into scoring position. North Putnam scored again with Hodges who had three touchdown and 77 yard rushing.
Barrett said North Putnam thrived off the fans who were very loud in their supporting of the Cougars.
"It was phenomenal," Barrett said. "Besides that Cougar nation was loud and proud tonight. They got loud when they needed them to. It's unbelievable how well they back their guys. We've got a great community here. Having support like that is huge for us. We're going to have to thrive for that momentum from the fans."
Cougars using the momentum from the fans were Duke Duff and Andrew McDaniel who had four tackles.
"That happened for us tonight for us defensively," Barrett said. "They got them up and the defense played disciplined football. Daniel Huffman made some nice plays during the end. We had some guys not play as well as they should have but they stuck with it and battled."
With the big lead the Cougars went to a reverse that caught the Rams completely off guard and Hodges went 33 yards for the touchdown, making the score 40-24.
Paoli battled back and even with the game out of reach completed a double halfback pass for a 77-yard touchdown for the 40-32 final.
The Cougars will now face Monrovia (10-1) in Roachdale for the sectional championship.
"We've had these battles with Monrovia before where we've both been ranked in the top 10 (AP poll). It's going to be a top 10 battle there's no doubt. We know what they do. They'll run the ball. They are going to keep running the dive at you and they're a well-coached team. We're excited about the challenge and we are very excited about being back where we are at the sectional championship."
IHSAA Sectional
At Roachdale
Paoli 0 12 6 14 -- 32
North Putnam 7 13 0 20 -- 40
1st Quarter
NP: Haste 40 yd run Alen kick good 7-0
2nd Quarter
NP: Hodges 10 yd run kick good 14-0
PA Tollen 8 yd run 14-6
NP: Rudes 1 yd sneak 20-6
PA 5 yd TD pass 20-12
3rd Quarter
PA: Tollen 85-yd run 20-18
PA: Tollen 1- yd run 24-20 (Paoli)
4th Quarter
NP: Haste 2 yd run 26-24
NP: Hodges 12 yd run 33-24
NP: Hodges 33 yd reverse run 40-24
PA: 69 yd Touchdown pass 40-32 (North Putnam)
Individual Stats
Rushing: Jeter 12-108, Haste 12-102 (2TD) Hodges 10-77 (3TD), Rudes 6-(-8) (TD), Chrisy 4-2
Passing: Rudes 4-7-58, Hodges 0-1-0
Receiving: Hodges 2-28, McPhereson 1-29, Chirsty 1-1