Football Friday: Eagles, Clovers kick off 2023 Putnam County slate; Tiger Cubs host Danville while Cougars travel to face Chargers

Football season is finally upon us as the four Putnam County schools look to start their seasons off on the right foot Friday night.

South Putnam begins its chase for a fifth WIC Small School Division title at home against county foe Cloverdale while Greencastle and North Putnam start the year with matchups against Sagamore Conference foes with the Tiger Cubs hosting Danville and the Cougars traveling to North Montgomery.

The series between the Eagles and Clovers has been the most lopsided among the Putnam County schools with the last win for the southern-most school coming in 2006.

Expecting that to change will be highly unlikely as South Putnam has won the last three meetings with scores of 70, 42 and 84.

South Putnam will be looking to utilize junior quarterback Wyatt Mullin more often this season, looking to build off his 1,300 yards passing and 315 yards rushing from 2022.

Mullin has his top two receiving targets from a year ago back in junior Wyatt Switzer (24 receptions, 412 yards) and senior Drew Hill (22 receptions, 297 yards) with Zach Dorsett and Caiden Switzer among his other options to choose from.

Defensively, All-State senior Aiden Beadles returns as the centerpiece of the Eagle defense after racking up 174 tackles as a junior, joined by seniors Kyle Glasson (55 tackles, 12.5 TFL), Caiden Switzer (56 tackles) and Kolby Harcourt (77 tackles), the latter likely to see more time on the other side of the ball as starting running back.

The Clovers will rely on Tayt Jackson to power an offense with plenty of playmaking ability but questions about protection in front of the junior signal caller.

Jackson will have several quality targets to throw to in seniors Scottie McGuire, Jaxton Helton and Tyson Bridges as well as fellow juniors and newcomers Drake Hoffa and Noah Betz while another junior, Levi Johnson, will be the main back lined up to Jackson.

All six players will also be key cogs in the Clover defense with Corey Branigan leading the defensive line, Johnson in the middle of the linebacking corps and Helton and Bridges at the cornerback positions.

Greencastle will take on Danville two years after falling to the Warriors in sectional play and for the first time in the regular season since the two schools were part of the West Central Conference in 1998.

The Tiger Cubs will be led out by freshman quarterback Cole Stephens, making his first varsity start behind an offensive line led by senior Jackson Buis.

Lamar Moore (122 carries, 741 yards, 12 touchdowns) returns as the most productive offensive threat while Owen Huff (18 receptions, 289 yards) leads a receiving corps that will feature far more heavily than in past seasons.

Huff (87 tackles) and Moore (57 tackles) return as the leading tacklers on defense with several players looking to make an impact on the defensive side in linemen Cameron Pingleton, linebackers Jake Miller and Parker Welker and secondary members Garrett Cooper and Cooper Robinson.

Danville will have junior quarterback Conner Soper back after a 1,000-yard passing season but will have to find someone to replace Derin Sharp’s production at running back as the Warrior graduate ran for 1,533 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.

Soper will have a rangy target in 6’6” Jace Scrafton (22 receptions, 306 yards) to target along with Teke Tanksley (10 receptions, 119 yards) while Evan Lawrence anchors the offensive line in front of Soper.

Steven Webb led Danville with 102 tackles last year while Andrew Smith added 90 tackles and several other starters return for the Warrior defense.

North Putnam will be the only school heading outside the Putnam County limits when it travels to North Montgomery.

Since adding the Chargers to the schedule in 2018, the Cougars are 2-3, winning the first two meetings but dropping the last three contests, including last year’s 36-7 loss.

Sophomore quarterback Christian Kramer threw for more than 2,200 yards as a freshman and will have to pick up the slack of missing Putnam County Offensive Player of the year Noah Claycomb and his 1,600 yards of rushing.

Braden Glaze moves to the vacant spot Claycomb left at running back while Wes Murphy (17 catches, 230 yards) returns as the leading receiver for North Putnam.

Jayden Laffin returns on both sides of the line, joined by Jesse Bryan (53 tackles, seven TFL) as the leading returner on defense.

Glaze (33 tackles) will move up to fill in the linebacker slot left open by Lucas Murphy while Caiden Hankins (31 tackles) and Wes Murphy (30 tackles) add experience to backend of the defense.

Ryan Dyson (72-148-889, eight touchdowns) will lead out North Montgomery in his senior season as signal caller, getting help from Austin Sulc (104 carries, 505 yards, seven TD) in the backfield while trying to build a rapport with an inexperienced receiving group that lost its top five options to graduation.

Sulc (83 tackles) also returns as a leader on the defensive side of the ball with Jayden Thompson and Noah Hopkins (53 tackles each) helping to lead the defense.