Tiger Cubs claim WIC Small School Division outright with win over Cougars

Dragging three defenders and leaving a few others behind, Greencastle's Lamar Moore powers in from 12 yards to give the Tiger Cubs a 7-3 lead in the first half. Moore would carry the ball 37 times for 168 yards on a rain-drenched evening, helping the Tiger Cubs fend off North Putnam 17-9 to claim the WIC Small School Division title.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

Rain in the forecast Friday night saw Greencastle and North Putnam agree to move kickoff of the final game of the 2023 football regular season up to 6:30 p.m.

As it turned out, moving the game up put the first quarter right in the middle of the heaviest rain of the evening, a period in which the Cougars had the ball inside the Tiger Cub 10-yard line twice, only coming away with three points.

Greencastle rode out the rough start, taking a 7-3 lead into halftime before an interception set North Putnam up for a quick score to start the second half.

The Tiger Cubs kept steady, getting two scores in the second half and getting a fortunate bounce on a late punt to take a 17-9 win over the Cougars and claimed the WIC Small School Division outright.

“It was an important win for our guys,” Greencastle head coach Dave Stephens said. “We’ve shown we can win shootouts, win comfortable games and win games coming from behind.

“Now, we’ve shown we can win games by grinding them out, even if the conditions aren’t ideal for our offense.”

“It was the same song and dance about capitalizing on opportunities,” North Putnam head coach Scott Moore said. “On a fourth-down play, we had a touchdown pass go through our hands.

“We threw an interception as we were driving before halftime. We had three scoring opportunities in the first quarter and only capitalized on one. You have to credit Greencastle for slowing our running game down at times while doing what they had to do to get scores.”

North Putnam took the opening kickoff and marched down the field quickly, reaching first-and-goal at the Greencastle 10-yard line in six plays, including a 22-yard pass from Christian Kramer to Paxton O’Brien on fourth-and-four.

The Cougars could not force the ball in on four plays, however, turning the ball over on the Tiger Cub two-yard line.

After forcing a punt, the visitors again pushed the ball inside the 10-yard line, eventually settling for a 24-yard Evan Polley field goal and a 3-0 lead.

A short kickoff was recovered by North Putnam at the hosts’ 35-yard line but the Cougars could not capitalize as O’Brien was unable to haul in a fourth-down pass that would have gone for six.

“That was a big one,” Moore said about the missed touchdown. “Coming out of a time out, we went for it and Paxton came wide open but just wasn’t able to come down with it.”

Greencastle still could not get going, punting on its next possession, but forced a punt from the visitors and finally got its offense going on the following drive.

Cole Stephens hit all three passes on the drive for first downs to different receivers and, aided by a North Putnam offside penalty on fourth-and-two, the Tiger Cubs took the lead two plays later.

Lamar Moore refused to be brought down on a 12-yard run, giving the hosts a 7-3 lead near the midway point of the second quarter.

“We talk about keys to victory all the time and in our program, we have three areas we look at,” Stephens said about making the trip to the red zone count. “Those things are explosive plays, takeaways and red zone efficiency.

“Our defense came up big in the red zone but our offense was also effective down there. We didn’t take many trips there but we took advantage when we did and I was really pleased with our efficiency all things considered.”

Both teams traded punts and interceptions to close the half but the Cougars started the second half by taking the lead following a second Stephens interception just two plays into the third quarter.

Kramer ran all six times following Brogan Woodall’s interception, covering 14 yards in the process and finishing with a one-yard plunge to give the visitors a 9-7 lead after the extra point was wide right.

Greencastle picked up two first downs on its next drive but missed a fourth-and-eight attempt inside North Putnam territory.

“We felt good about our gameplan going in on defense,” Moore said about bottling up the Tiger Cubs most of the night. “(Cole) Stephens is a good quarterback and runs that offense well.

“We took away some of (Greencastle’s) best offensive stuff but hat’s off to him for being able to tuck the ball and run for some yards. We have to be better there.

“They could still run the ball as they have a good line and Lamar is a good back,” Moore added. “Their explosive plays come from the passing game, though, and we worked on limiting those plays this week.”

The visitors punted and the Tiger Cubs rode Moore for 21 yards following a 23-yard run from Owen Huff to reach the Cougar 17-yard line.

Stephens was sacked on third down, setting up fourth-and-14 and a game-changing moment.

Given time, Stephens was able to find Brayden Monroe for a 24-yard score that would put the hosts up for good at 14-9 with three minutes left in the third quarter.

Kramer threw his second interception of the night three plays later, both claimed by Greencastle’s Garrett Cooper, but a sack on the final play of the quarter kept the Tiger Cubs from adding to their lead.

North Putnam fumbled on the second play of the fourth quarter, Monroe recovering for the hosts, and with the short field, Greencastle was able to add a 24-yard Ian Williamson field goal to make it 17-0 with 7:42 to play.

“That takeaway was huge,” Stephens pointed out. “It was also important in the way the takeaway came about.

“We do a two-whistle drill where the first player gets to the ball carrier, then a second whistle goes and the rest of the defense has to get to the pile. That play was a clear example of that as (Jake) Simmerman held the kid up and Owen made a really impactful hit.”

In what turned out to be the final Cougar drive of the night, the visitors threw three incompletions and punted away.

Moore carried much of the load the remainder of the game, getting a pair of first downs until a delay of game and holding penalty forced a Greencastle punt.

The snap to Williamson went wide but the junior was able to collect the ball and get off a low kick that bounced in front of a pair of players, one for each team, ricocheting off one of the players and was recovered by the hosts.

After a discussion, the officials ruled the ball bounced off the North Putnam player first, awarding possession back to the Tiger Cubs who, with one more Moore first down, iced the game.

“It was a great job by Ian keeping his head up and keeping his cool,” Stephens said about the play. “I felt bad for the North Putnam kid because he was doing all the things he was supposed to do.

“The ball bounced behind him and he just happens to turn around into it. It was unfortunate for him and fortunate for us that hit him and we recovered the ball.”

Scoring

1st Quarter

NP — E. Polley 24-yard field goal 2:17 0-3

2nd Quarter

G — Moore 12-yard run (Williamson kick) 7:33 7-3

3rd Quarter

NP — Kramer 1-yard run (XP no good) 9:06 7-9

G — Monroe 24-yard pass from Stephens (Williamson kick) 2:52 14-9

4th Quarter

G — Williamson 24-yard field goal 7:42 17-9

Statistics

Individual Statistics

Rushing

North Putnam — 38-111, TD — Kramer 23-82, TD; Glaze 10-26; Murphy 3-(-2); Bro. Woodall 1-5; Hankins 1-0

Greencastle — 49-205, TD — Moore 37-168, TD; Stephens 8-0; Huff 2-38; Welker 1-0; Monroe 1-(-1)

Passing

North Putnam — Kramer 4-16-75, 2 INT

Greencastle — Stephens 7-14-98, TD, 2 INT

Receiving

North Putnam — O’Brien 2-37; Glaze 1-37; Murphy 1-1

Greencastle — Huff 2-28; Williamson 2-24; Brennan 2-22; Monroe 1-24, TD