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Short-handed Cougars fall to No. 3 Tipton, 49-7
BAINBRIDGE — North Putnam faced a daunting task on Friday night, welcoming Class 2A No. 3-ranked Tipton for a first-round sectional football game.
Then, when Cougar defensive leaders Ethan Christy and Zach Culberson were injured a few hours before game time and became unable to play, the task got even tougher.
Tipton led 7-0 after just 10 seconds, scoring on a 62-yard pass from K.J. Roudebush to Luke Stoker on the game’s first play, and went on to record a 49-7 win over the Cougars.
“Zach is our leader in almost every statistical category on defense,” North Putnam coach Sam Carnes said. “The only one he doesn’t lead in is tackles, and Buck [Christy] leads us in that. You’re talking statistically about the two best players on our defense.”
After forcing the Cougars to punt from their own 20, the Blue Devils took over on the North Putnam 36 on their next drive.
Roudebush, an impressive junior quarterback who went over the 2,000-yard plateau for the season with 254 yards, hit three different receivers in leading his team to a second score.
Blake Edwards took it in from one yard out with 5:05 left in the first quarter, and it was 14-0.
The Blue Devils forced another punt, taking over near midfield and driving to their third score.
Hyatt Flanigan scored from nine yards out on the second play of the second quarter for a 21-0 lead.
The Cougars recorded a pair of first downs on their next drive, stalling at the Tipton 43 when Chris Murray was stopped short of the first down marker.
The Blue Devils got a 4-yard TD pass from Roudebush to Flanigan with 2:55 left in the half, and it was 28-0.
Tipton forced another punt and took over on its own 39 with just 1:02 left before halftime. Roudebush marched his team 61 yards in five plays, hitting Stoker on another scoring strike from 26 yards out for a 35-0 halftime lead.
North Putnam opened the second half with an impressive drive, starting at its own 13 and going all the way to the Tipton 10.
Aidan Baker did a majority of the work on the ground, and Rudes threw passes for first downs to Dillon Binnion, Gage Bell and Lucius Alexander.
Rudes was stopped just short of a first down on a fourth-and-one sneak up the middle, and Roudebush went to work again.
He hit Caleb Burkett with a 21-yard pass for a first down on the second play of the drive, and after a Tipton penalty he hooked up with Stoker for the third time — this one from 69 yards out and a 42-0 lead.
Tipton added its final score when sophomore reserve Trevor Ramsey ran it in from five yards out with 7:55 to play.
The Cougars took over on their own 25, and Rudes marched his team to its only score — scoring himself on a 5-yard run with 2:15 to play.
“We decided that since he’s a fourth-year quarterback playing in his last game that we should let him call the plays on that last drive,” Carnes noted. “He’s batting 100 percent on scoring drives when he’s calling the plays. He did a great job.”
Carnes completed his first year as a varsity head coach with more ups and downs than he could have expected.
He and his team endured the death of senior Dylan Hess early last summer, then got off to a 1-3 start before rebounding to win the Putnam County championship.
The Cougars then dropped the Western Indiana Conference crossover game to Cloverdale before finishing up against Tipton.
Throw in the birth of his first child in the middle of all that, and Carnes definitely had a memorable season.
What will he remember most about his first team?
“This was a team that loved each other and didn’t give up,” Carnes said. “They got better every week, and supported me from the beginning. I will always be grateful for this group — especially this group of seniors.”
The Cougars will have a lot of holes to fill next year, with Rudes, Christy, Culberson, Bell, Jake Scott, Binnion, Jake Plessinger, Wyatt Summers, Reuben Edwards, James Upleger and Darrin Tennis all having ended their North Putnam football careers.
“We are losing a lot of talent,” Carnes said. “The good news is that we are reloading a lot. The kids who were on the bench tonight will be working hard this off-season to become a lot better for next year.”
Tipton 14 21 7 7 — 49
North Putnam 0 0 0 7 — 7
T — Stoker 62 pass from Roudebush (Slack kick)
T — Edwards 1 run (Slack kick)
T — Flanigan 9 run (Slack kick)
T — Flanigan 4 run (Slack kick)
T — Stoker 26 pass from Roudebush (Slack kick)
T — Stoker 69 pass from Roudebush (Slack kick)
T — Ramsey 5 run (Slack kick)
NP — Rudes 5 run (Schmidt kick)
T NP
First downs 13 14
Rushes-yards 21-111 34-87
Passing yards 254 111
Passing 13-19-0 14-27-1
Penalties-yards 8-55 4-45
Punts-avg. 1-30 4-27.2
Individual statistics
Rushing — Tipton: Roudebush 4-22, Conner 8-26, Edwards 3-17, Flanigan 3-19, Ramsey 3-31, Pearce 1-(-4). North Putnam: Rudes 10-11, Murray 14-29, Bell 3-21, Baker 7-26.
Passing — Tipton: Roudebush 13-19-0 254. North Putnam: Rudes 14-26-1 111; Upleger 0-1-0 0.
Receiving — Tipton: Stoker 5-161, Moses 1-6, Burkett 4-62, Edwards 1-7, Shivery 2-18. North Putnam: Bell 5-53, Davies 1-9, Binnion 4-37, Murray 1-(-6), Alexander 3-18.
