South Putnam dominates all-Eagle battle at Brown County

NASHVILLE – There were two kinds of Eagles on the field in Nashville, the ones from South Putnam and the hosts from Brown County

In Friday night’s Western Indiana Conference football game only one of them could fly.

The red, white and blue Eagles from South Putnam grounded the blue and yellow Eagles, holding them to negative total yardage (39 plays, -3 yards) and just two first downs in a 66-0 victory which improved South to 6-1 on the season and 4-1 in WIC play. Brown County fell to 1-6 and 0-3 in the conference.

The visiting Eagle offense soared as it racked up 457 total yards with a balanced attack, rushing for 254 yards and throwing the ball for 203 yards, compared with Brown County moving backward when it had rushing attempts in losing 43 yards in 18 tries.

The air attack was not much more effective for the hosts as they picked up 40 yards, but South Putnam had two pick-sixes on the defensive side as well as a third interception.

“We played well in phases of the game. We turned the ball over once, cut down on our penalties and ran the ball well and threw it well. We did a good job of stopping the run and defending the pass,” South Putnam head coach Chuck Sorrell understated.

South wasted little time in scoring on its first possession, driving 79 yards in seven plays with Kolby Harcourt picking up the first of his three touchdowns on the night from seven yards out for a quick 7-0 lead.

Brown County got a big 51-yard kickoff return from Landon Scott and then moved down inside the Eagle 20-yard line, but Keenan Mowery-Shields picked off a pass to end the threat.

Wyatt Mullin then hit Bransyn Hanley with a short eight-yard pickup, followed that by going over the top to Hanley for 84 yards and a touchdown on the next play and a 14-0 lead.

Another defensive stop by South forced the host Eagles to punt and a bad snap forced the punter to run, being tackled at the home team’s 13-yard line, giving South great field position.

The visitors turned that field position into another Harcourt touchdown as the senior went over the goal line from six yards out for a 21-0 lead with 3:36 to play in the first quarter.

“The O-line did a really good job tonight,” Sorrell said.

South Putnam made its lone offensive mistake on its next possession as Mullin was picked off by Brown County, but the defense forced another punt and another bad snap led to the visitors getting ball on the Brown County side of the field again.

Two rushing attempts later, Harcourt added his third TD and a big 28-0 lead with just :35 left in the first quarter.

After the ensuing kickoff, South’s Caden Switzer picked off a pass and strolled in from 14 yards out for another score and a 35-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Brown County again tried to pass the ball on the first play following the kickoff and again the South Putnam defense made it pay. Logan Sillery snagged an interception, going 38 yards for another touchdown and a 42-0 lead just one play into the second quarter.

South Putnam went exclusively to the running game on the next drive using Ty Benton, rushing all five plays for 55 yards and finished with a one-yard touchdown run as South was cruising at 49-0.

Another quick possession by Brown County set up Mullin to find Drew Cline for a 30-yard touchdown on a simple short pass as South led 56-0 with 4:56 left in the half.

“It is sometimes hard to keep the focus coming into a game like this. We just wanted to play a crisp game and I think we did,” Sorrell said.

The Eagles from Putnam County were able to drive inside the 20-yard line again, finishing the half with Wyatt Kendall booting a 32-yard field goal to set the halftime score at 59-0.

The senior kicker was a perfect 9-for-9 on PAT attempts and nailed the field goal to prove Sorrell right that all phases of the game played well.

The junior varsity guys began to play considerably, while the running clock began to limit plays and possessions in the second half, but South was able to score once more in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles drove a short 37 yards as Brier Cook was able to get the final touchdown with a one-yard plunge.

“Our young guys did a great job. We already start five freshmen, but the others came in and did well and protected the shutout on the defensive side. The future for South Putnam football is bright,” Sorrell said.

South will get a big test next week as they will host 2A No. 5 Heritage Christian.

1st Quarter

SP – Kolby Harcourt 7-yard run (Wyatt Kendall kick), 7-0, 8:11.

SP – Bransyn Hanley 84-yard pass from Wyatt Mullin (Wyatt Kendall kick), 14-0, 5:13.

SP – Kolby Harcourt 6-yard run (Wyatt Kendall kick), 21-0, 3:36.

SP – Kolby Harcourt 8-yard run (Wyatt Kendall kick), 28-0, :35.

SP – Caden Switzer 14-yard interception (Wyatt Kendall kick), 35-0, :22.

2nd Quarter

SP – Logan Sillery 38-yard interception (Wyatt Kendall kick), 42-0, 11:50.

SP – Ty Benton 1-yard run (Wyatt Kendall kick), 49-0, 6:56.

SP – Drew Cline 30-yard pass from Wyatt Mullin (Wyatt Kendall kick), 56-0, 4:56.

SP – Wyatt Kendall 32-yard field goal, 59-0, :22.

4th Quarter

SP – Brier Cook 1-yard run (Wyatt Kendall kick), 66-0, 11:24.

Statistics

Rushing: South Putnam: Kolby Harcourt 7-88, Wyatt Mullin 1-21, Ty Benton 11-79, Drew Cline 5-31, Stiles Stauch 1-(-4), Brier Cook 5-26, Hayden Tincher 1-14, Tristan Coons 3-(-1), Brown County: Noah Lucas 7-(-5), Grayson Mitchell 7-(-2), Jackson Reed 2-(-17), Kyle Cobb 2-(-19).

Passing: South Putnam: Wyatt Mullin 9-11-1 166, Drew Cline 2-4-0 37. Brown County: Noah Lucas 7-21-3 40.

Receiving: South Putnam: Bransyn Hanley 3-98, Zach Dorsett 1-15, Brody Burdge 4-23, Drew Cline 1-30, Hayden Tincher 1-5, Stiles Stauch 1-32. Brown County: Landon Scott 5-30, Westin Fulford 1-(-1), Kyle Cobb 1-11.