South Putnam knocks out North Putnam

Once in the open field, South Putnam quarterback Wyatt Mullin became impossible to corral, rushing for a pair of 83-yard scores either side of halftime as the Eagles sent North Putnam down for the count 52-20 Friday night.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

In the same way that Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns came firing out of their corners in their epic 1985 boxing bout, North Putnam and South Putnam threw blows at each other throughout the first quarter and into the second quarter.

But in the same way Hagler eventually knockout Hearns after a strong second and third round, so too did the Eagles eventually land the telling blows in the second and third quarters, eventually building up a 39-point lead on the way to a 52-20 knockout of the Cougars.

“We have a few things to clean up,” South Putnam head coach Chuck Sorrell said. “(North Putnam) got a big play over the top of us and they have some nice young players

“They’re going to be a good football team week after week. We had to play four quarters and we got that for the most part in all three aspects of the game and played really well. Our defense buckled down after the long touchdown score and played well until the end while the offense did their thing.”

“We did everything we were supposed to do but then let (South Putnam) out on fourth-and-15,” North Putnam head coach Scott Moore said. “We let them out on a few other fourth downs that turned into three scores.

“We have to learn to make plays consistently.”

South Putnam threw the first salvo, starting from its own 45-yard line and converted twice on fourth downs, the second a 36-yard touchdown pass from Wyatt Mullin to Logan Tomaw for a 6-0 lead.

North Putnam fired right back, recording four first downs on an eight-play drive that finished with Christian Kramer hitting Arrick Kramer for a 20-yard score to tie the game at 7-7 midway through the opening quarter.

The Eagles responded with another hard shot, converting a fourth-and-three with an 18-yard pass from Mullin to Wyatt Switzer for a 14-7 lead.

“We were going to go for it most of the time,” Sorrell said about going for several fourth down conversions. “We’re explosive enough to convert them, though if teams start stopping us, we’ll stop going for them.

“We have a lot of weapons and we want to get the ball to them. Logan caught his first touchdown of the year and Wyatt (Mullin) showed he can run the ball as well as anyone.”

A stumble from the Cougars led to a punt and the hosts were quickly within scoring range after a 40-yard hookup from Mullin to Switzer.

Against the ropes, the visitors were able to hold off South Putnam after a Mullin pass on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line was short.

The Cougars then landed a haymaker to start the second quarter after Christian Kramer found Myles Bryan, who evaded the covering defender and outran the Eagle defense for a 99-yard score.

With the pugilists taking an extended break, the second act began with the hosts starting at midfield, converting yet another fourth down and scoring when Peyton Crickmore breezed in from 15 yards out to take a 21-13 lead.

North Putnam stalled on the next drive and punted with the Eagles seeing one touchdown chalked off for holding, another fourth down conversion and, in the end, a 32-yard field goal from Wyatt Kendall sail through to extend the lead to 24-13.

The Cougars got away with one turnover on the next possession, a fumble that was wiped out by forward progress, but the next play was a body blow to the visitors after Christian Kramer was intercepted by Switzer, who returned the ball 45 yards for six and a 31-13 lead.

One final blow to end the half came after the visitors punted on their next possession with 1:02 remaining until the break.

After a holding call forced South Putnam into third-and-18, Mullin scrambled to his right, evaded several tacklers and raced away for an 83-yard score and a 38-13 lead at halftime.

“It comes down to some missed assignments and letting (South Putnam) out on fourth down,” Moore said about the Eagles, who were 5-of-8 on fourth down. “When we look back, seemingly every score they had, they converted a fourth down and you can’t do that and win a game.

“Offensively, we did some good things and moved the ball at times, though we shot ourselves in the foot with the pick-six.”

Having done significant damage in the second quarter, the Eagles applied the knockout blow in the third quarter.

Both teams turned the ball over on downs to start the second half before Caden Switzer intercepted Christian Kramer and three plays later, Hayden Switzer scored from a yard out to make it 45-13.

North Putnam dug in and converted a pair of first downs but on an inside screen attempt, Christian Kramer was intercepted by Ethan Harcourt.

“This was the same (officiating) crew that was here when Ethan took a punt off his chest and scored against Heritage Christian, so it’s only fitting he got an interception tonight,” Sorrell said about the senior defensive tackle, who had a fumble recovery wiped out earlier in the game.

A holding call on the first play of the next series left the Eagles facing first-and-28 but that mattered little once Mulling rolled to his left three plays later, once again evading several tacklers before hitting the knockout blow with an 83-yard run that made it 52-13.

The visitors would get the final score of the game when Claycomb ran in from four yards out with 4:30 remaining in the contest but the bout had been waived off long before as a contest with the hosts now 2-0 in conference play as well as 2-0 against Putnam County opposition.

South Putnam finishes its tour of the county schools next week, traveling to Greencastle, while North Putnam hosts Covenant Christian.

“We knew our first four games were tough,” Moore said about facing the Warriors next week. “We felt good about coming into tonight.

“We were there, gave ourselves opportunities and were in positions to make plays but didn’t make them. We let (South Putnam) off the hook on fourth down but we’ll bounce back, have a good week of practice and get ready to play a good Covenant program.”

“(Greencastle) is a good football team,” Sorrell said. “We have to be prepared, getting better this week in tackling, not missing coverages and stop the run.

“They’re going to run the ball at us and we have to run it back at them. It’s going to be a game in the trenches and that’s where the game is won.”

Scoring

1st Quarter

SP — Tomaw 36-yard pass from Mullin (Kendall Kick) 8:51 7-0

NP —A. Kramer 20-yard pass from C. Kramer (Polley kick) 5:49 7-7

SP —W. Switzer 18-yard pass from Mullin (Kendall kick) 4:04 14-7

2nd Quarter

NP —Bryan 99-yard pass from C. Kramer (XP no good) 11:40 14-13

SP —Crickmore 15-yard run (Kendall kick) 10:16 21-13

SP — Kendall 32-yard field goal 4:09 24-13

SP —W. Switzer 45-yard interception return (Kendall kick) 2:40 31-13

SP —Mullin 83-yard run (Kendall kick) :18.2 38-13

3rd Quarter

SP — L. Switzer 1-yard run (Kendall kick) 7:05 45-13

SP — Mullin 83-yard run (Kendall kick) 2:05 52-13

4th Quarter

NP — Claycomb 4-yard run (Polley kick) 4:30 52-20

Statistics

Individual Statistics

Rushing

North Putnam — 24-93 — Claycomb 16-80, TD; A. Kramer 4-19; C. Kramer 4-(-8)

South Putnam — 35-283 — L. Switzer 12-49, TD; Crickmore 10-36; Mullin 7-179, 2 TD; Speth 3-18; Benton. 3-1

Passing

North Putnam — 11-25-204, 2 TD, 3 INT — C. Kramer 11-24-204, 2 TD, 3 INT; A. Kramer 0-1-0

South Putnam — 14-23-191, 2 TD — Mullin.13-22-195, 2 TD; Tincher 1-1-(-4)

Receiving

North Putnam — Bryan 7-124, TD; A. Kramer 2-22, TD; Murphy 1-47; O’Brien 1-11

South Putnam — W. Switzer 4-100, TD; L. Switzer 3-19; Hill 3-18; Tomaw 2-41, TD; Childress 1-17; Benton 1-(-4)