Arrows take care of ball, get past North Putnam 31-13

North Putnam’s Cam Whitaker (73) and Noah Claycomb (6) put the squeeze on Sullivan quarterback Rowdy Adams during a Western Indiana Conference football game at Sullivan on Friday.

B.J. Hargis photo

SULLIVAN — After committing nine turnovers in consecutive losses to Linton and Northview, Sullivan only gave the ball away once as the Golden Arrows got back to .500 with a 31-13 victory over visiting North Putnam on Friday night.

“We can’t give the ball away and expect to win,” said Sullivan coach Blaine Powell. “Other than one late fumble in the second half, we took care of the ball.

“That is something that we are going to have to do moving forward.”

Sullivan improved to 2-2 overall, while North Putnam slipped to 0-4.

“It was not surprising that it was a hard-fought, close first half,” said Powell. “In every game, North Putnam played very physically.

“They have some size and they made it tough on us, especially in the first two quarters.”

Sullivan, who lost at North Putnam 42-41 in overtime last year but still lead the all-time series 5-1, put together a 68-yard drive in the final six minutes of the half, taking the lead for good.

Sullivan quarterback Rowdy Adams, who completed 20 of 24 passes for 281 yards, capped an 11-play drive with a 15-yard TD pass to Grant Bell with 44.9 seconds left until half-time. Guiseppe Leone booted the first of three PATs as the Arrows led 7-0.

The Sullivan defense made it 9-0 after their defense tackled Robert Greene in the end zone at the 7:05 mark of the third quarter.

“Our defense continues to play very well,” said Powell. “That safety got us going in the second half.”

Sullivan then used a short field to extend the lead to 17-0 after a free kick by the Cougars. William Newby broke a tackle at the 8 on his way to a 21-yard scoring run with 5:04 left in the third.

North Putnam’s first score was set up by a 44-yard pass from Gunner Burress to Cody Perkins at the Sullivan 2. Burress ran the pigskin on the next play with 11:52 remaining, cutting the deficit to 17-6.

Sullivan then used a big play to set up its next score. Adams connected with Luke Adams on a 68-yard pass play to the Cougar 25.

Adams had a career-high five receptions for 107 yards.

“Luke is really fast and is a fantastic athlete,” said Powell. “We have a lot of athletes and he is one of them.

“That was one of the few big plays we had. We missed a lot of other opportunities or the lead could have been even bigger.”

Six plays, Noah Gambill caught a 10-yard TD pass from Rowdy, the first of his career.

“I was happy to see Noah get a chance for a score,” said Powell.

Greene bullied his way through the Sullivan defense as he took a screen pass from Burress and scored a 30-yard touchdown. Brayden Polley kicked the PAT to account for the final NP point.

“There is no way that he should have scored,” said Powell. “We have four or five chances to tackle him, but we didn’t.

“Those are plays we have to make.”

In the game’s final 21 seconds, Randy Kelley picked off a Burress pass and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown. Leone’s kicked after ended the scoring.

Burress was 8 of 24 passing for 165 yards, but the Arrows had four interceptions — three other by Karver Queen, Luke Adams and Caleb Hughes.

“I thought our pass defense was lights out,” said Powell.

Neither team rushed the ball well — 27 for 41 yards by the Cougars and Sullivan was 37 of 51.

Sullivan did have 11 penalties for 75 yards.

“We still have a lot of things to clean up,” said Powell.

North Putnam was host Cloverdale at 7 p.m. Friday while the Golden Arrows will play a non conference game at South Vermillion at the same time.

Second quarter

S — Grant Bell 15 pass from Rowdy Adams (Guiseppe Leone kick), :44.9.

Third quarter

S — Robert Greene tackled in end zone, 7:00.

S — William Newby 21 run (Randy Kelley run), 5:04.

Fourth quarter

N — Gunner Burress 2 run (kick failed), 11:52.

S — Noah Gambill 10 pass Adams (Leone kick), 8:48.

N — Greene 30 pass from Burress (Brayden Polley kick), 2:15.

S — Kelley 60 interception return (Leone kick), :21.1.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — North Putnam: Noah Claycomb 6-18, Greene 5-10, Burress 13-10, Cam Hankins 3-3. Sullivan: King 11-34, Newby 4-28, Dylan Williams 2-10, Kyle Maxey 1-4, Grant Bell 2-4, Luke Adams 1-3, Caleb Hughes 6-0, R, Adams 10-(minus 32).

PASSING — North Putnam: Burress 8-23-4-165. Sullivan: Hughes 1-4-0-7, R. Adams 20-24-0-281.

RECEIVING — North Putnam: Cody Perkins 2-55, Corbin Sprunger 2-49, Colton Clifford 2-26, Greene 1-30, Barger 1-5. Sullivan: Karver Queen 7-99, Luke Adams 5-107, Bell 5-57, Williams 2-8, Gambill 1-10, Hughes 1-7.