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Cougars win county title in shutout
Greencastle’s vaunted defense held up its end of the bargain on Friday night, limiting North Putnam to just 10 points in the deciding game for the Putnam County championship.
The Cougars, who allowed an average of more than 31 points over the first six games of the season, turned in their best defensive performance of the season in a 10-0 win over the Tiger Cubs.
With the win, the Cougars won the county title for the second time in the past three years and for the first under coach Sam Carnes.
Carnes was happy to pick up his first Putnam County title, but was understandably happier for his players — especially the veterans.
“We’ve been saying from the beginning that we don’t give up on each other and we keep getting better,” he said. “That defensive effort of getting a shutout is unbelievable. I’m excited for that, but I’m more excited for these seniors. This is their last time to play against a county rival, and they took advantage of it.”
Greencastle has gained a majority of its yards on the ground this season, but the Cougar defense was able to limit the Cubs to just 113 yards on 34 carries.
“Every week we try to stop what the other team does best, and Greencastle runs the ball very well,” Carnes said. “We knew we had to stop the run first, and we did that.”
The Cougars got all the points they would actually need on the game’s first drive, taking over on their own 35 after the kickoff went out of bounds.
The Cougars marched down to the Tiger Cub 14, from where exchange student Martin Schmidt kicked a 31-yard field goal.
After an Alex Costin kickoff return brought the ball out to the Greencastle 42, the Cubs were unable to take advantage.
North Putnam forced the Cubs to punt, and took over on its own 39.
Senior quarterback Hayden Rudes connected with classmate Gage Bell on a key 17-yard pass play on third down to get into Cub territory, and three plays later Rudes hit Dillon Binnion on a 42-yard scoring play.
Binnion, a converted offensive lineman, led the Cougars with seven catches for 107 yards. He escaped two Tiger Cub tacklers and rambled into the end zone on the scoring play.
That score made it 10-0 with 3:31 left in the opening period, and if you only like offense then you could have gone home at that point.
The scoring was finished.
The teams traded punts on the next two drives, then on the first drive of the second quarter the Cubs put themselves into their best scoring position of the night.
Sophomore quarterback Brayden Baxter hit Alex Costin on a 15-yard completion on third down to keep the drive alive, and get the Cubs down to the Cougar 10.
After an incompletion and a short Damon Moody run, Baxter dropped back to pass and was intercepted by North Putnam’s Jake Scott.
The Cougars took over deep in their own territory, and that disadvantageous field position led to a scoreless second period and a 10-0 halftime lead.
Neither team got much going offensively in the second half, and Greencastle’s defense was even stingier against the run.
The Cougars could manage just 49 yards rushing (33 on one Christy run), but were able to be victorious thanks to 182 passing yards by Rudes.
“It is great to get the county title back,” Rudes said. “Our defense played great, and the coaches did a great job of prepping us for the game. We all studied film and had a great week.”
Rudes acknowledged that running into the Tiger Cub strong front line wasn’t a priority.
“They mixed in some blitzes and things to force us to do some other things, but we did them,” he added. “I’m proud of my guys.”
Christy has stepped into the primary ball carrier role vacated by graduated standout Solomon Gross, and also leads the Cougar defense from his linebacker position.
“Sol was a great runner, and it’s an honor to replace him,” he said. “I love my team. Our defense showed up, and we played our butts off.”
Christy did not mince words about his pre-game expectations.
“We knew we had it,” he said. “We knew it was going to be tough, but the train ain’t stopping.”
The Cougars evened their record at 4-4, and clinched third place in the West Division of the Western Indiana Conference.
They will play at Cloverdale on Friday in the fifth-place game.
“We are going to work hard and prepare for every game,” Rudes said. “The coaches are going to get us ready.”
The Cougars will then host undefeated and No. 2-ranked Tipton in the sectional opener on Oct. 20.
Christy is looking forward to that matchup when it gets here.
“We aren’t scared of anybody,” he said. “We won’t back down.”
North Putnam 10 0 0 0 — 10
Greencastle 0 0 0 0 — 0
NP — Schmidt 31 FG
NP — Binnion 42 pass from Rudes (Schmidt kick)
NP G
First downs 8 8
Rushes-yards 30-49 34-113
Passing yards 182 56
Passing 12-20-0 8-17-1
Punts-avg. 5-33.6 7-29.0
Penalties-yards 5-47 4-25
Individual statistics
Rushing — North Putnam: Christy 18-56, Rudes 8-(-12), Murray 1-(-2), Bell 3-7. Greencastle: Moody 18-82, Bollman 6-11, Costin 3-3, Baxter 7-17.
Passing — North Putnam: Rudes 12-20-0 182. Greencastle: Baxter 6-15-1 56. L.Carrington 0-2-0.
Receiving — North Putnam: Bell 2-61, Christy 1-(-4), Binnion 7-107, Alexander 1-12, Davies 1-6. Greencastle: Meyer 1-4, Costin 3-40, Sanders 2-12.
