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Eagles roast Clovers in season opener
CLOVERDALE – Rome was not built in a day.
It’s a cliché but there’s a reason it became a cliché.
There was a renewed energy at Cloverdale prior to kickoff against South Putnam Friday night and the hosts had a chance to make the first move against the A No. 8 Eagles.
One fumble and three plays later, the rout was on as the visitors would take advantage of every Clover mistake in a 70-0 mauling.
“We did a really good job of getting a lot of people involved,” South Putnam head coach Chuck Sorrell said. “We had five, six, seven guys score touchdowns tonight and that’s one of our strengths, that we have a lot of weapons and we want to get the ball in all of their hands.
“Our quarterback did a nice job of spreading things out to all the receivers then our running game took off. Our offensive line did a good job pass blocking and run blocking tonight.”
“We’ve got to get better at the fundamentals of football,” Cloverdale head coach Tyler Lotz said. “Tackling, blocking, passing, running, hanging on to the ball, all of the above.
“It was a poor performance by the coaching staff and players; it was all-around not a good night for us.”
Ethan Harcourt recovered Tayt Jackson’s fumble on the first play and three plays later Wyatt Mullin hit Zach Dorsett for a 20-yard score.
“Starting the game with a fumble is not a good thing for us,” Lotz noted. “It’s not a good trendsetter.”
After forcing a punt, South Putnam needed four plays to double the lead after Mullin made a path around the left side for an eight-yard score and a 14-0 lead.
Levi Johnson added to Cloverdale’s woes with a fumble that Aiden Beadles recovered, and two plays later Mullin hit Dorsett for a second 20-yard score and a 21-0 lead.
The Clovers moved into Eagle territory on the next drive but a delay of game and sack led to a punt.
Luke Switzer picked up 33 yards on two runs before Mullin hit Drew Hill for a 37-yard score and a 28-0 lead with 2:37 left in the opening quarter.
Cloverdale’s best chance to score came on the following drive when Jackson ran for a first down before hitting Tyson Bridges for a 44-yard gain, setting up first-and-goal at the visitors’ 10-yard line.
After the first quarter ended, a holding call forced the Clovers into a bad spot and, while trying to avoid a delay of game penalty, a low snap was not corralled by Jackson, and Harcourt recorded his second fumble recovery.
Mullin was sacked on the first play of the next drive but from there, Switzer covered 80 yards in four runs, scoring on a 13-yard run up the middle for a 35-0 lead.
Wyatt Switzer would take the stage next with three excellent punt returns, the first setting up a 15-yard scoring run from Peyton Crickmore before a 50-yard return found paydirt.
A third soon followed that was wiped out by a holding call, as was another score two plays later, but Mullin and Hill finally got the next score in with a 22-yard catch-and-run that made it 56-0.
The half finally came to a conclusion with South Putnam taking a knee following a strong punt return from Fisher Jones yet the second half started in the same fashion with Uriah Kortz making a return to the Cloverdale 29-yard line.
Three plays later Luke Switzer made it 63-0 from four yards out and the final score came inside the fourth quarter when freshman Wyatt Speth scored his first varsity touchdown after toting the rock seven-straight plays for 61 yards, including the final yard for a score.
Both teams take to the road in week two as South Putnam travels to Owen Valley, who also had a 70-point win in week one, while Cloverdale travels to Edinburgh.
“Edinburgh likes to spread it out on offense and defensively, we’ll see what we see on film,” Lotz said. “They did lose a few key guys from last year but right now, we need to worry about us.
“The fundamentals of football, we’re not doing those right now. We need to work on blocking, tackling, catching, those kinds of things all week.”
“(Owen Valley head coach) Robbie (Gibson) has us circled on his calendar and he’s going to have all guns firing,” Sorrell said. “Last year, they got us and they got us by playing more physical than us in the first half, making us come from behind.
“We have to come out like we did tonight: Ready to hit, ready to block and ready to score touchdowns. We can’t go down 14-0 and think we’re going to come back on a good football team.
“They’re like us, wanting to run power and counter,” Sorrell added. “Their quarterback is going to run the ball a lot and it should be a good football game next week.”
| South Putnam | 28 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 70 |
| Cloverdale | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scoring
1st Quarter
SP — Dorsett 20-yard pass from Mullin (Kendall kick) 11:25 0-7
SP — Mullin 8-yard run (Kendall kick) 9:27 0-14
SP — Dorsett 20-yard pass from Mullin (Kendall kick) 7:36 0-21
SP — Hill 37-yard pass from Mullin(Kendall kick) 2:37 0-28
2nd Quarter
SP — L. Switzer 13-yard run (Kendall kick) 9:32 0-35
SP — Crickmore 15-yard run (Kendall kick) 7:56 0-42
SP — W. Switzer 50-yard punt return (Kendall kick) 0-49
SP — Hill 22-yard pass from Mullin (Kendall kick) 2:23 0-56
3rd Quarter
SP — L. Switzer 4-yard run (Kendall kick) 9:47 0-63
4th Quarter
SP — Speth 1-yard run (Kendall kick) 9:52 0-70
Statistics
| … | South Putnam | Cloverdale |
| Total Offense | 38-443 | 44-87 |
| Rushing | 309 | 10 |
| Passing | 8-9-134 | 9-21-77 |
| First Downs | 15 | 5 |
| Fourth Downs | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Penalties | 8-70 | 4-25 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 3 |
Individual Statistics
Rushing
South Putnam — 29-309; 5 TD — L. Switzer 11-141, 2 TD; Speth 7-84, TD; Kortz 5-26; Crickmore 3-53, TD; Mullin 3-5, TD
Cloverdale — 24-10 — Jackson 15-8; Johnson 6-1; Helton 1-4; Henderson 1-1; Ramsey 1-(-4)
Passing
South Putnam — Mullin 8-9-134, 4 TD
Cloverdale — Jackson 9-20-77; Henderson 0-1-0
Receiving
South Putnam — Hill 3-62, 2 TD; Dorsett 2-40, 2 TD Tomaw 1-15; W. Switzer 1-10; Crickmore 1-7
Cloverdale — Lee 4-29; Hilton 4-4; Bridges 1-44