Football Friday: Tiger Cubs look to keep Bucket, fend off Eagles; Clovers look for third win in-a-row at Cadets; Cougars look for first win on the road against Warriors

Sports Editor’s Note: Last week’s preview stated that the game between North Putnam and South Putnam would be played for the Putnam County Bucket. This was incorrect as Greencastle is the current holder of the Bucket. Apologies for any confusion caused.

That, of course, means that this week, the Bucket is really up for grabs for the first time since May...and possibly the next time until December.

The first third of the 2023 football season has come and passed with South Putnam listed among the top four teams in Class A after three weeks, Cloverdale sitting second in wins among county schools, Greencastle getting coach Dave Stephens his first win in purple and gray and North Putnam still looking to get its season up and running.

The Bucket will be on the line at Mark Wildman Field where the Tiger Cubs will visit the Eagles looking to be the first team since North Putnam in 2019 to prevent South Putnam from ending the football season with the traveling trophy in hand.

Both Cloverdale and North Putnam will hit the road this week, the former traveling to face future WIC foe Cascade while the Cougars will travel to face Covenant Christian.

Starting the season 3-0 for the first time since 2020, the Eagles got their first gut check of the season last week as the Cougar defense bottled up the red and blue running attack until the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

South Putnam ended with 159 rushing yards but was under 50 yards until Wyatt Mullin scored on a 64-yard run midway though the fourth quarter; including the run, the Eagles added 111 yards in the final 7:32 of the game.

The run helped pushed Mullin to the top of the rushing chart for South Putnam, edging out teammate Kolby Harcourt with 244 yards to the senior back’s 236 yards.

Mullin is also two yards shy of 600 passing yards through the first three games, having thrown for six touchdowns and no interceptions. Conversely, Mullin has recorded five interceptions on defense, the second most in Indiana behind Calumet Christian’s Isaiah Kish, who has six through three games.

Wyatt Switzer’s 146-yard receiving effort against North Putnam saw him take the top spot among Eagle receivers with Drew Hill and Zach Dorsett also topping 100 yards through the air on the season.

Aiden Beadles continues to haul in ball carrier after ball carrier, currently sitting third in the state in tackling with 50 total tackles, including 9.5 for loss and 3.5 sacks, to lead the South Putnam defense.

Greencastle is not without its own tackling machine as Lamar Moore sits eighth on the state tackling list with 43 tackles, 34 coming solo.

The Tiger Cubs got the offensive balance right in the week three win over West Vigo, rushing and passing for over 200 yards against the Vikings.

The running game saw both Moore and Anthony Adams hit the 100-yard mark on a combined 16 carries, the former eight yards shy of 300 rushing yards for the season while the latter had a breakout performance in the backfield.

Freshman quarterback Cole Stephens has thrown for more than 600 yards to start the year in the first three games, throwing for six touchdowns against two interceptions.

Four different receivers have reached the 100-yards mark as a result with Owen Huff leading the way with 172 yards and two scores while Brendle Brennan has 151 yards and three scores. Ian Williamson and Brayden Monroe also have crossed the 100-yard mark after three games.

Cloverdale won its second-straight game as the running game hit its stride, amassing 240 yards against Brown County with Levi Johnson carrying the bulk of the load with 135 yards on 20 carries while Tayt Jackson added another 92 yards on 10 carries.

Jackson still leads the team in rushing with just under 200 yards on the ground while also throwing for 207 yards in the air, while Johnson moved up to 176 yards through three weeks. Jaxton Helton leads the team in receiving with 98 yards though the air and the lone receiving touchdown. Carson Caulkins leads the team with 24 total tackles.

Though Jackson sat for the second half of the game against the Eagles, the quarterback will be available against a Cadet team that comes in also sitting at 2-1 after two-straight wins over Beech Grove and Edgewood.

The Wing-T based offense has rolled up over 1,000 yards on the ground through three games with wings Toby Savini (31 carries, 328 yards, five scores) and Damien Appleby (25 carries, 202 yards, four scores) the primary threats while fullback Dayton Mink (30 carries, 199 yards, three scores) handles the inside runs. Caiden Clements and Tyler Hege have also crossed the 100-yard mark for the season.

Brady Trebley has only thrown for 155 yards through three games but has thrown for three scores and no interceptions.

Jacob Potts (20 tackles) and Brayden Catmel (18 tackles) lead the 4-2-5 defense for the Cadets while Lucas Farmer has both sacks for the team as part of his 14 tackles.

North Putnam’s offense hasn’t quite kicked on from last year, though the starting schedule of North Montgomery (2-1), Southmont (2-1) and South Putnam (3-0) hasn’t helped.

The Cougars have rushed for 378 yards through three games with Christian Kramer running for 200 yards while Wes Murphy has 93 yards through three games.

Kramer’s 420 yards through the air have been tempered with a completion percentage below 50 percent and four interceptions to only three touchdowns.

Brogan Woodall and Murphy have been the primary beneficiaries, each more than 100 yards receiving on the year with the former scoring twice.

Covenant Christian has also had a tough start with a win over Greenwood Christian sandwiched by losses to Speedway and 2A No. 1 Indianapolis Scecina.

Connor Cruz runs the spread offense but has run into similar problems as Kramer with 456 yards passing, five scores and five interceptions with a sub-50 percent completion rate.

Jeremiah Dowdell has rushed for 187 as the primary back in the spread but the rest of the team only has around 100 yards rushing combined.

Landen Ross has been Cruz’s favorite target with 14 receptions and 145 yards through three games, though three other receivers have at least five catches with Carter Bell hauling in three of his seven catches for scores.

Nicholas Bartel (26 tackles, 8.5 TFL) and Nolan Jones (23 tackles) lead a defense that runs a 3-3-5 look that will see linebackers drop down to the line to help with coverage.