Eagles run demolition job on Vikings

Rumbling through the West Vigo defense, South Putnam senior Logan Sillery sets the Eagles up for a first-and-goal late in the second quarter.

Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN

Out-and-out destruction doesn’t come around too often on Friday nights but South Putnam performed a demolition job on West Vigo in a 56-0 win.

The Eagle defense overwhelmed a Viking offense that looked confused when the offensive line wasn’t being blown back into the path of its ball carriers, the visitors ending the night with negative-five yards of offense, a total aided significantly by a 31-yard fake punt run by Ryan Cobb.

Otherwise, West Vigo was ripped apart, not recording a first down until the aforementioned Cobb fake, one of two on the night for the visitors, the second coming on the next play thanks to a South Putnam penalty, both coming in the fourth quarter.

The Eagle offense was equal to its defense in terms of the gulf between itself and the Viking defense, needing no more than five plays on any scoring drive.

After the first of many three-and-outs for the visitors, South Putnam struck paydirt in two plays after Wyatt Mullin hit Bransyn Hanley for a 56-yard strike.

Kolby Harcourt took in the next two scores, rushing in from eight and two yards out, the latter needing five plays thanks to a pair of false start penalties, to make it 21-0.

Mullin found Zack Dorsett down the middle on the next drive, the tight end bulling through a pair of defenders to reach the endzone for a 33-yard score that made it 28-0.

On the first play of the second quarter, Mullin hit Caiden Switzer, who also had two interceptions on the night, for a 10-yard score, following that with a second 56-yard score to Hanley on the next offensive snap to make it 42-0.

Logan Sillery got the call on the next drive, rushing three times and finishing with a two-yard score, while Drew Cline, now in at quarterback for Mullin, finished the first half scoring with a one-yard run to make it 56-0 at halftime.

Cline would throw an interception on South Putnam’s first drive of the second half but the Eagle defense threw West Vigo back once again, getting the ball back in time for Ty Benton to score on a 60-yard run in the third quarter.

The first play of the final period was when Cobb took off, the Vikings finally reaching the hosts’ half of the field, getting down to the 21-yard line on the next play following a five-yard Cobb run and a personal foul penalty.

A pass interference call on fourth-and-17 gave the visitors a second chance in the redzone but South Putnam’s defense again closed the door.

A last indignity awaited West Vigo as the Viking defense forced a punt, only to muff the catch with the hosts recovering and picking up two more first downs before the clock expired.

The Eagle defense forced West Vigo into -24 yards of offense in the first half and recorded 20 tackles for loss on the night.

Scoring

1st Quarter

SP — Hanley 56-yard pass from Mullin (Kendall kick) 7-0

SP — Harcourt 8-yard run (Kendall kick) 14-0

SP — Harcourt 2-yard run (Kendall kick) 21-0

SP — Dorsett 33-yard pass from Mullin (Kendall kick) 28-0

2nd Quarter

SP — C. Switzer 10-yard pass from Mullin (Kendall kick) 35-0

SP — Hanley 56-yard pass from Mullin (Kendall kick) 42-0

SP — Sillery 2-yard run (Kendall kick) 49-0

SP — Cline 1-yard run (Kendall kick) 56-0

3rd Quarter

SP — Benton 60-yard run (Kendall kick) 63-0

Statistics

Individual Statistics

Rushing

West Vigo — 32-(-3) — Cobb 12-18; Hedden 10-(-11); Wallace 7-(-9); Kidwell 4-(-1)

South Putnam — 24-163, 5 TD — Benton 8-105, TD; Cline 6-(-6), TD; Harcourt 5-35, 2 TD; Sillery 4-30, TD; Stauch 1-(-1)

Passing

West Vigo — Hedden 1-7-(-2), 2 INT

South Putnam — 10-15-284, 4 TD — Mullin 9-12-279, 4 TD; Cline 1-3-5, INT

Receiving

West Vigo — Cobb 1-(-2)

South Putnam — Hanley 3-135, 2 TD; Dorsett 3-57, TD; Jefferson 2-77; C. Switzer 1-10, TD; Burdge 1-5