Cubs claim county title, second place in WIC West

Greencastle’s Andrew Fajt hauls down Lucious Alexander of North Putnam on Friday night. The Tiger Cubs won 19-7 to claim the Putnam County title.

Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

BAINBRIDGE — The Greencastle Tiger Cubs put the Putnam County bucket and second place in the Western Indiana Conference Western Division on the line when they traveled to North Putnam on Friday night.

The two teams entered the game with just three losses between them, but the Tiger Cubs put a damper on the Cougar homecoming with a 19-7 win.

Greencastle, now 7-1, used a strong defense and a punishing ground game to win the Putnam County championship and lock up second place in the WIC. Greencastle’s Gavin Bollman rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, while Damon Moody picked up 102 yards on 18 rushes.

The Cougar offense was limited to just 118 total yards by the tough Greencastle defense as the game was played in awful field conditions.

The heavy rain Friday turned the field into a soupy mess and limited the ability of the big playmakers. North Putnam fell to 5-3 on the season.

“It was tough tonight. I was really pleased with how we played and I thought our defense was really solid,” Greencastle head coach Mike Meyer said.

Greencastle dominated the first half, holding the Cougars to just one first down and 18 total yards from scrimmage. The Tiger Cub offense was able maintain field position and use the punishing ground game to put up two first-half touchdowns.

The Tiger Cubs stopped the Cougars on their first two drives as the field conditions limited both squads to straight ahead runs. Greencastle managed to drive deep into North Putnam territory, but missed a 26-yard field goal.

“The conditions were a little rough tonight, but we really played hard,” Meyer said.

Greencastle forced the first turnover late in the first quarter as Alex Costin intercepted an Evan Davies pass and returned it to the Cougar 20-yard line.

Four plays later, Brayden Baxter put the Cubs on top with a one-yard quarterback sneak and a 6-0 lead.

Another strong defensive series by the Cubs gave them the ball back and they put together a 14-play, 65-yard drive to take command of the game.

Greencastle put its second score on the board with a Gavin Bollman six-yard run and the Cubs led 12-0 at the half.

“We really missed Austin Hoffman tonight. He is a great lineman and it’s tough when you don’t have your core group together,” North Putnam head coach Sam Carnes said.

The Cougars excited the crowd as Scott Proctor returned the ensuing kickoff 55 yards to seemingly set up the Cougars in Greencastle territory, but a penalty called the play back and the Cougars had to head to the locker room at halftime trailing 12-0 putting a damper on the crowning of Shalyn Nelson as homecoming queen.

Neither squad could get anything going in the third quarter. The Cougar defense stepped up and began limiting Bollman and Moody to short runs.

Offensively, the Cougars did themselves in on a pair of possessions. Getting ball twice in decent field position, North had a penalty on each drive that nullified first-down plays and prevented the Cougars from scoring.

“This is the second or third week we have too many penalties. We have to get that fixed,” Carnes said.

North finally found some offense early in the fourth quarter. The Cougars took over on their own 25-yard line and put together an 11-play, 75-yard drive to cut into the lead on a Davies to Lucious Alexander 10-yard touchdown pass. Elliot Sabens kicked the PAT and the Cub lead was cut to 12-7 with 6:40 left in the game.

Greencastle went three-and-out and the Cougars took over and picked up a first down and had a fourth-and-three on their own 37-yard line. Chris Murray picked up a first down, but a holding penalty nullified the run and the Cougars turned the ball over on downs.

Bollman made them pay on the next play as the senior rumbled 31 yards for the final score of the night and setting the final score at 19-7.

“What was disappointing was that we had our chances tonight. Playing for the bucket, the Putnam County championship and second place in our division. The West is a tough division and we just made too many mistakes,” Carnes said.

Greencastle will host Edgewood next week for third place in the WIC.

“It is really nice to play for third place in our conference. We have been playing solid football,” Meyer said.

North will host county rival Cloverdale in the crossover game for seventh place in WIC.

Second quarter

GHS – Brayden Baxter 1 run (run failed), 6-0, 11:27.

GHS – Gavin Bollman 6 run (kick failed), 12-0, 2:28.

Fourth quarter

NP – Lucious Alexander 10 pass from Evan Davies (Elliot Sabens kick), 12-7, 6:40.

GHS – Bollman 31 run (Hector Lezama kick), 19-7, 2:08.

Individual statistics

Rushing – Greencastle: Gavin Bollman 18-112, Damon Moody 18-102, Brayden Baxter 6-0. North Putnam: Chris Murray 20-81 Evan Davies 7-0, Aiden Baker 2-2.

Passing – Greencastle: Baxter 4-7-0 15. North Putnam: Davies 4-17-1 35.

Receiving – Greencastle: Alex Costin 2-11, Bollman 2-4. North Putnam: Lucious Alexander 1-2, Scott Proctor 1-14, Chris Murray 1-6, Colton Clifford 1-13.

Next game: North Putnam (5-3) will host county rival Cloverdale (2-6) next Friday for a Western Indiana Conference game. Greencastle (7-1) will host Edgewood (6-2) next Friday.