SP breaks away in second half, wins battle of Eagles

Shaffer racks up 225 rushing yards

NASHVILLE -- The South Putnam Eagles made the long trip to Nashville and waited out a half-hour lightning delay to take on the Eagles of Brown County in Indiana High School football. The Eagles overcame the trip, delay and a slow start to defeat Brown County 34-6. All the scoring was done in the second half. The Eagles are now 2-0 heading into next week's showdown with county rival North Putnam.

Kyle Shaffer

"The kids made a decision at halftime. They came out and played well, 34-6 in the second half. They are learning that nothing is easy and they have to focus and come ready to play," South Putnam head coach Nathan Aker said.

South had a problem hanging onto the football in the first half. They fumbled the ball away twice and a fumbled snap led to a big loss thwarting drives.

"We realized we needed to come out and play in the second half," Aker said.

The Eagles first scoring drive was a nine-play, 96-yard march highlighted by a Kyle Shaffer 66-yard run and capped by a Shaffer 2-yard plunge. Devon Workman added the PAT kick and the Eagles had a 7-0 lead.

The Brown County Eagles fumbled the ball back to South giving them a short field from the 39-yard line. Four plays later, Shaffer scored again, this time from 20-yards out.

South's rushing attack began to punish Brown County. South's next possession was another pounding drive using nine plays and 72 yards with Dalton Scott rushing in from seven yards out.

Brown County finally got on the scoreboard on their next possession. Noah Carter hit Tristan Richards with a seven-yard touchdown pass to give the hosts some life with 5:17 left in the game.

After a Brown County on-side kick was unsuccessful, South pounded the ball down the field and scored on Shaffer's third touchdown of the game. This time he scored from eight yards out and South led 27-6.

Kody Britton got a chance most linemen don't get a few plays later. The senior picked up a Brown County fumble and rumbled 15-yards for a touchdown. Workman added his fourth PAT kick of night and the final margin was set at 34-6.

Shaffer had 215 yards on 25 carries on the night.

The big Eagle line and the hard-running back wore down Brown County as the night went on.

"Shaffer ran hard. I don't think [Brown County] even wanted to see him in the handshake line," Aker said.

For the second straight week, the Eagles used a big second half to gain the victory.

"I think our conditioning is really paying off. You are starting to see it in the third and fourth quarters," Aker said

South Putnam 0 0 14 20 -- 34

Brown County 0 0 0 6 -- 6

SP -- Kyle Shaffer 2 run (Devon Workman kick) 7-0, Q3 4:17.

SP -- Shaffer 20 run (Workman kick) 14-0, Q3 1:45.

SP -- Dalton Scott 7 run (Workman kick) 21-0, Q4 7:16.

BC -- Tristan Richards 7 pass from Noah Carter (PAT Blocked) 21-6, Q4 5:17.

SP -- Shaffer 8 run (PAT No Good) 27-6, Q4 2:10

SP -- Kody Britton 15 fumble return (Workman kick) 34-6, Q4 1:19

SP BC

First downs 12 10

Rushes-yards 41-241 26-34

Passing yards 27 158

Comp-Att-Int 2-4-0 13-26-0

Total offense 45-268 52-192

Punts-Avg. 2-30.0 5-40.0

Fumbles-lost 4-2 4-2

Penalties-yards 4-20 7-40

Individual statistics

Rushing -- South Putnam: Kyle Shaffer 25-215, Dalton Scott 10-49, Allen Plunkett 6-(-23). Brown County: Colten Harper 7-11, Noah Harper 11-30, Tristan Richards 3-(-10), Justin Burns 2-3, Bryce Mahan 3-5, Griffin Kelly 1-(-5).

Passing -- South Putnam: Plunkett 2-4-0 27. Brown County: Carter 13-26-0 158.

Receiving -- South Putnam: Sanders 1-23, Scott 1-4. Brown County: Richards 4-57, Harper 4-49, Kelly 1-11, Burns 1-10, Luke Getts 3-31.