Football Friday: Postseason play begins as Tiger Cubs, Cougars square off again; Eagles look to beat Thunderbirds, set up meeting with Saints; Clovers, Panthers collide in sectional opener

Postseason play has descended upon the gridiron as the IHSAA Football State Tournament begins Friday night.

A redux of last week’s season finale between Greencastle and North Putnam will take place, this time at the home of the Cougars, while South Putnam hosts North Central and Cloverdale will be at home to face Riverton Parke.

Following a rain-drenched 17-9 win last week that sealed the WIC Small School Division title and maintained control of the Putnam County Bucket into basketball season, the Tiger Cubs will carry confidence into their rematch this week.

With drier conditions expected Friday, both teams will be able to work their full passing playbook back into the mix as Cole Stephens and Christian Kramer combined to throw for 173 yards. As a total, it would be the second lowest passing yards for Stephens on the season and the third lowest for Kramer.

It will be a test for both defenses as Stephens (2,347 yards, 32 touchdowns, nine interceptions) and Kramer (1,673 yards, 15 touchdowns, six interceptions) will have all options on the table this week.

The Tiger Cubs set a new season-high for rushing against the Cougars with 205 yards as Lamar Moore carried 37 times for 168 yards; Moore’s carries in the season finale were 12 more attempts than Greencastle had combined in any game up to that point.

Kramer accounted for 82 of North Putnam’s 111 rushing yards and the lone Cougar TD. Braden Glaze started off well but finished with 26 yards on 10 carries.

Defensively, Brayden Monroe had 10 tackles, four for loss with three sacks, and a fumble recovery to lead the Greencastle defense. Garrett Cooper had both interceptions of Kramer in the win.

Wes Murphy had 19 tackles in the loss for North Putnam while Caiden Hankins and Braden Glaze had 13 each. Kramer and Brogan Woodall both intercepted Stephens during the contest.

South Putnam gutted out a 20-17 win over Cascade, one in which the Cadets ran double the plays the Eagles did, nearly outgaining them by a 2:1 margin, yet a strong second half showing allowed the visitors to finish the season with their fifth win in a row.

With season lows in rushing (97 yards) and passing (78 yards), South Putnam used quick drives and a blocked punt to score 20-straight points and held off the hosts despite Cascade recovering a successful onside kick.

Kolby Harcourt carried the ball 16 times for 82 yards, including a score, while Wyatt Mull was 5-of-11 for 78 yards, Wyatt Switzer the only receiver to catch a pass on the night.

Defensively, Aiden Beadles and Keenan Mowery-Shields were involved all night as the former had 21 solo tackles and 14 assists while the latter had six solo tackles and 12 assists. Caiden Switzer added another nine solo tackles and six assists as the Eagle front seven was gashed for more than 300 yards rushing yet stood up in the big moments, only allowing two scores.

North Central, the Eagles’ opponent in the sectional opener, comes in with a 2-7 record, recording wins over Irvington Prep Academy and Oblong-Hutsonville-Palestine of Illinois.

The Thunderbirds work out of a spread formation on offense and use a four-man front on defense, shuffling linebackers around to help in coverage.

North Central was gashed for 287 yards on the ground by Eastern Greene, which averaged 12.5 yards per carry during the 43-6 win.

For a quarter, Cloverdale was able to keep pace with Owen Valley but turnovers led to a 19-0 second quarter as the Patriots would keep the Clovers in check the rest of the night as part of a 53-14 win.

Tayt Jackson had a 74-yard rushing touchdown and caught three passes for 99 yards, including a 70-yard score, as Artrevion Henderson finished 6-of-15 passing for 133 yards, a touchdown and four interceptions.

Cloverdale will face a Riverton Parke team that has momentum going into tournament play after winning its last three games of the regular season over Attica, Parke Heritage and Covington.

Collett Sanders didn’t attempt a pass against the Trojans but didn’t need to as the Panthers ran for 202 yards against Covington, spearheaded by Kyle Price’s 28-carry, 127-yard performance, even if the scoring was handled by Sanders and AJ Goff, who ran for two scores and 51 yards on six carries.

Running is the name of the game for Riverton Parke, who will use a compact wing-T offense with some wrinkles but will mostly rely on Price, who has 684 yards on 139 carries this season. Goff has 338 yards on 49 carries. Both are the only two players to break 100 yards receiving this season. Sanders has thrown for 332 yards on 32-of-49 passing with one touchdown against five interceptions.

Using a base 4-4 front, the Panthers held Covington to negative four pass yards and 122 yards rushing, half coming on the Trojans’ lone touchdown run last week.