Football Friday: Eagles, Cougars square off with WIC lead, Bucket on the line; Tiger Cubs eye second half improvements against Vikings; Clovers look for win streak at BC

The first third of the 2023 football season will be complete after Friday night’s contests with the second intracounty game taking place between North Putnam and South Putnam while Greencastle looks for its first win of the season against West Vigo, and Cloverdale looks to accomplish a feat it has not done since 2018 when it visits Brown County.

Meetings between the Cougars and Eagles have rarely been close, the last game being decided by a score or less coming in 2015 and then a further decade back before the next closest in 2004.

Neither have there been many swings in results with each team having a run of at least three wins in a row before a potential shift in results.

North Putnam had a very good start against Southmont in week two that, once halted, saw the game turn from a 21-7 lead to a 56-21 deficit in the span of a little over two quarters of play.

Meanwhile, South Putnam struggled a bit in its opening quarter against Cloverdale before blowing the Clovers away and then doing the same to Owen Valley, utilizing a smothering defense that kept the Patriots under 100 total yards of offense.

The Cougars have shown flashes of explosive offense but will need to lighten the load on sophomore Christian Kramer, who has close to 100 more rushing yards than the rest of the backs in the offense combined through two weeks.

Brogan Woodall has been a bright spot in the receiving corps since coming out, the only North Putnam pass catcher with over 100 yards in the first two games while Caiden Hankins has 19 tackles to start the year and defensive linemen Jayden Laffin and Jesse Brian have 12 tackles each.

Kolby Harcourt and Wyatt Mullin both have over 100 yards rushing in the early season and multiple scores on the ground, the latter also throwing for 369 yards in the first two games with Drew Hill the top target with 144 yards receiving to start the season.

All-State linebacker Aiden Beadles continues to rip apart offensives with 25 tackles, including eight for loss and three sacks, in two games, while the Eagle defense in total has 24.5 tackles for loss in two games and Mullin has three interceptions to start the season, returning two of them for scores.

A pair of strong first halves for Greencastle against quality opposition has been followed by being swamped in the second half in each of the first two weeks.

Getting more done in the second half will be a key talking point for the Tiger Cubs, though that may depend on the score as West Vigo comes in following two heavy defeats in two outings to WRC foes South Vermillion and Parke Heritage.

The Vikings have given up over six yards a carry in the first two weeks on defense and while doing the same on offense out of multiple formations, the lack of passing game to complement the running game has made the team one-dimensional in the early season.

Jacob Dewey leads West Vigo with 113 yards through two games while quarterback Chase Hedden is just shy of the 100-yard mark. Hedden is 4-of-6 for 52 yards and an interception throwing.

Brown County has struggled in its opening two games, suffering 60-0 losses to both Owen Valley and Jennings County.

Meanwhile, Cloverdale comes in after defeating Edinburgh and will look for its first winning streak since 2018 when the Clovers defeated Brown County and Owen Valley in back-to-back weeks.

Cloverdale was outgained by the Lancers but won the turnover battle 3-1 to help aid in the week two win, gaining 140 yards on the ground as Tayt Jackson rushed 22 times for 113 yards and all three Clover touchdowns.

Both teams have had struggles along the offensive line and whichever team offers its quarterback time to operate will have an inside track on a win.