Cougars fall short to Warriors

WHITESTOWN – The North Putnam Cougars made the trip to Whitestown to take on the Covenant Christian Warriors on Friday night.

Defense was optional in the contest as the two teams combined for 940 total yards and 81 points, but the Cougars came out on the short end, losing 44-37 in tightly contested matchup.

Christian Kramer combined for 380 yards passing and rushing, including four touchdowns, but that was offset by the Warriors’ Connor Cruz throwing for 351 yards on an impressive 23-of-28 passing night to send the Cougars to their fourth loss of the season. North is now 0-4, while Covenant is 2-2.

“We just need to make a few more plays, but that is the game of football,” North Putnam head coach Scott Moore said after the disappointing loss.

The Cougar offense was impressive right from the get-go. Caiden Hankins went for 32 yards on the first play from scrimmage and North marched 82 yards in eight plays to score on a Kramer one-yard run.

The Warriors committed an offside penalty on the PAT, which allowed the Cougars to go for two, and Kramer ran that in for a quick 8-0 lead with just over two minutes into the game.

“We were able to run the football early with Caiden and Christian. Our offensive line did a good job,” Moore said.

Covenant Christian answered quickly as Jeremiah Dowdell raced 54 yards for a touchdown just a little over a minute later and closed the gap to 8-6.

The offensive show was just beginning. Kramer went to the air on the next possession, picking up 58 yards of 77 on the drive, and Hankins capped it off with an 18-yard rushing TD. Evan Polley booted the PAT kick and North had a 15-6 lead with five minutes to go in the first quarter.

The Warriors answered immediately with Dowdell getting another touchdown, this one from 25 yards out, cutting the Cougar lead to 15-13 with each team scoring on its first two possessions.

North was the first to blink as its offense stalled on its next two possessions while Covenant Christian did not miss a beat.

Cruz hit Landon Ross with a seven-yard pass for a touchdown and then Henry Schafer hit back-to-back field goals for the Warriors to take a 25-15 lead. The second field goal came with just :51 left in the half.

North rallied before halftime as, behind big plays by Brogan Woodall and Kramer, the Cougars marched 72 yards to score on another Kramer rushing touchdown with just :04 on the clock, cutting the lead to 25-22 heading to the intermission.

“We executed offensively, came out really, really sharp. We had a couple of drive stoppers with some silly penalties, a few missed assignments or we would have scored more. We did get one right there before the half,” Moore said.

Covenant came out throwing in the second half and scored on its first possession with a Cruz to Ross 26-yard scoring toss.

The Warriors led 31-22 and it looked like the Cougars would answer as Kramer raced 33 yards for a score on the next possession, but it was called back due to a holding penalty and the drive stalled.

The Warriors made them pay as they went 66 yards in just four plays with Carter Bell hauling in a 36-yard strike for a touchdown, giving Covenant a 38-22.

Kramer and Braden Glaze led a drive late in the third quarter with Kramer scoring to cut the lead to 38-30 at the end of the period.

“He (Kramer) is a special player. His ability to run the football this year has been great for us,” Moore said.

North’s defense seemed to make a big play by sacking Cruz and setting up a third-and-23 early in the fourth, but Cruz found Ross again for a 35-yard pass and a 44-30 lead.

A couple of possessions later the Cougars were able to overcome a pair of big penalties to get another score as Kramer scored his fourth touchdown with 2:30 left. Unfortunately, the penalties cost the Cougars some time off the clock and North still trailed 44-37.

The Warriors were able to pick up one first down and then kneeled to run out the clock and pick up the victory.

“We battled; we are battling. In past years, this team might have imploded. We just have to stay with it. It’s like a broken record, but defensively, we get to third down or fourth down and can’t get off the field. Give Covenant Christian credit, they have some good athletes and a quarterback who puts the ball on the money,” Moore said.

The Cougars will try and get in the win column next week when they travel to take on conference and county rival Cloverdale.

1st Quarter

NP – Christian Kramer 1 run (Christian Kramer run), 8-0, 9:45.

CC – Jeremiah Dowdell 54 run (run failed), 8-6, 8:21

NP – Caiden Hankins 18 run (Evan Polley kick), 15-6, 5:06

CC – Jeremiah Dowdell 25 run (Henry Schafer kick), 15-13, 3:26.

2nd Quarter

CC – Landon Ross 7 pass from Connor Cruz (pass failed), 19-15, 10:44.

CC – Henry Schafer 31 FG, 22-15, 4:27.

CC – Henry Schafer 25 FG, 25-15, :51.

NP – Christian Kramer 2 run (Evan Polley kick), 25-22, :04.

3rd Quarter

CC – Landon Ross 26 pass from Connor Cruz (kick failed), 31-22, 10:08.

CC – Carter Bell 36 pass from Connor Cruz (Henry Schafer kick), 38-22, 5:29

NP – Christian Kramer 9 run (Brogan Woodall pass from Christian Kramer), 38-30, :40.

4th Quarter

CC – Landon Ross 35 pass from Connor Cruz (kick blocked), 44-30, 9:14.

NP – Christian Kramer 4 run (Evan Polley kick), 44-37, 2:30.

Statistics

Individual Statistics

Rushing: North Putnam: Caiden Hankins 9-55, Christian Kramer 22-171, Brogan Woodall 2-34, Braden Glaze 3-21, Paxton O’Brien 1-1. Covenant Christian: Jeremiah Dowdell 17-111, Connor Cruz 6-(-13).

Passing: North Putnam: Christian Kramer 18-30-0 209. Covenant Christian: Connor Cruz 23-28-0 351, Landon Ross 0-1-0 0.

Receiving: North Putnam: Brogan Woodall 4-46, Paxton O’Brien 6-58, Caiden Hankins 1-3, Wesley Murphy 4-46, Neal Bryan 3-56. Covenant Christian: Carter Bell 9-146, Landon Ross 10-172, Nolan Jones 3-8, Noah Sebree 1-25.