CLASS A FOOTBALL SECTIONAL: Eagles dominant as Kendall sets school field goal record

South Putnam quarterback Wyatt Mullin scrambles before firing off a pass during Friday night's 52-0 win over North Central to advance in Class A Sectional No. 47 play. The Eagles will host No. 1 Indianapolis Lutheran next week.

Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN

Heavily favored in its IHSAA Football Class A Sectional No. 47 opener Friday night, South Putnam did exactly what it needed to do.

The Class A No. 6 Eagles dominated in all three phases of the game for a 52-0 win over visiting North Central.

South Putnam (9-1) compiled 408 yards of offense while holding the Thunderbirds (2-8) to just 31.

Furthermore, eight of the Eagles’ 10 offensive possessions on the night ended with a Wyatt Kendall ball through the uprights, as the kicker was a perfect 7-for-7 on PATs and closed the game with a school-record 43-yard field goal.

With South Putnam leading 49-0 late in the fourth quarter, the running clock had been in place since halftime, and the Eagle JV had been on the field for more than a full quarter. When the offense lost yardage on two-straight plays in Thunderbird territory, the stage was set for Kendall to boot the record kick with 1:41 remaining in the game, setting the final score at 52-0.

“Wyatt has been awesome for us. He’s going to be really tough to replace,” South Putnam coach Chuck Sorrell said. “Aiden Beadles is going to be really hard to replace, Caden Switzer is going to be hard to replace, Kolby Harcourt going to be hard to replace — but when you have a kicker who can kick 40-yard field goals consistently and do the things that he does, it’s very special.”

Kendall didn’t really set out to be a football player four years ago.

“We recruited Wyatt when he was kicking, I think it was a hackey sack, four years ago,” Sorrell recalled. “I said, ‘Do you kick?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, soccer player.’ I said, ‘We don’t have soccer.’ He goes, ‘Well I play club.’ I said, ‘How about kicking for us?’ And about week two he came and started kicking for us.”

What has followed has been a lot of history, even in a program as storied as South Putnam.

“I think he’s going to break every kicking record we have by the time it’s finished,” Sorrell said. “Congratulations to him. He’s a great kid and comes from a great family. You couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Going against an opponent that had struggled through the 2023 campaign, the Eagles’ ability to strike early and often, even after an up-and-down week of practice, pleased the coach.

“I talked to two or three other coaches in the area, and it’s so hard to stay focused during fall break,” Sorrel said. “Your schedules change. Your kids are not at school. We had two pretty good practices, but yesterday wasn’t so hot.”

Something clicked under the lights.

“We came out tonight, and I thought we completely dominated the game, minus a couple of turnovers that we can’t have and jumping offsides a couple of times,” Sorrel said. “That’s mental, and we can fix those. We’re going to do more ball security this week, and we’re going to make sure we’re taking care of the little things.”

The attack was balanced, with Harcourt rushing for two touchdowns, Wyatt Switzer hauling in two scoring grabs and Bransyn Hanley scoring two more.

Switzer and Hanley led the receiving corps, with Switzer catching four passes for 83 yards and Hanley with three catches for 143 yards.

“It’s unfortunate for North Central that our guys were just better,” Sorrell said. “They couldn’t cover us on offense, and we knew we were going to have yards. They give it all they’ve got. Their players try hard, and we just were better than them offensively. It was a pretty good night.”

Quarterback Wyatt Mullin was 11-of-15 on the night for 266 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Harcourt carried the ball 10 times for a tough 37 yards. Mullin, meanwhile, picked up 41 yards on a single scramble on the first drive. Freshman quarterback Drew Cline also had 41 yards, 33 of them on a touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

The Beadles-led defense was its usual swarming self, giving the Thunderbirds no room to run.

It was a far cry from last week’s bend-but-don’t break performance that saw the Eagles give up more than 300 yards rushing to Cascade, but ultimately hold on for a 20-17 win.

“Our defense played this same type of offense last week and struggled to stay in our gaps and struggled to stay focused,” Sorrell said. “Tonight, as a whole, the defense did what it was supposed to do. I thought defensively we play the way we’re supposed to play — gap integrity, doing our job, doing our assignments.”

The visitors picked up just two first downs on the night, both on a second-quarter drive that saw them reach Eagle territory for the only time in the contest.

Even that drive ended in a turnover on downs.

Now it’s on to a matchup with Class A No. 1-ranked Indianapolis Lutheran, which is riding a 38-game winning streak and two straight state titles. Sorrell knows it’s going to take a great effort throughout the week to match the 8-0 Saints, who have not played since Oct. 6 due to no week nine opponent and a first-round bye.

“It’s gotta be the hardest week of practice,” Sorrell said. “Every week we say that our practices are harder than our opponent’s, and this week won’t be that. This is the No. 1 team in the state and they’re the No. 1 team in the state for a reason.”

He had high praise for Saints coach Dave Pasch, the one-time North Putnam coach.

“Coach Pasch, fellow Brownsburg graduate like me, he does a great job of getting his kids lined up, and they haven’t lost in three years,” Sorrell said.

“We would like to be that first loss.”

Scoring

1st Quarter

SP — Harcourt 3-yard run (Kendall kick) 8:38 7-0

SP — W. Switzer 37-yard pass from Mullin (Kendall kick) 6:15 14-0

SP — Hanley 45-yard pass from Mullin (Kendall kick) 3:12 21-0

2nd Quarter

SP — Harcourt 2-yard run (Kendall kick) 10:32 28-0

SP — W. Switzer 27-yard pass from Mullin (Kendall kick) 8:57 35-0

SP — Hanley 64-yard pass from Mullin (Kendall kick) 2:51 42-0

4th Quarter

SP — Cline 33-yard run (Kendall kick) 5:15 49-0

SP — Kendall 43-yard field goal 1:41 52-0

Team Statistics

Individual Statistics

Rushing

North Central — 29-30 – Thomas 9-(-18), Hargis 8-30, Trench 6-11, Gutierrez 3-10, Taylor 2-(-1), Fisher 1-(-2)

South Putnam — 18-130, 3 TDs – Harcourt 10-37, 2 TDs, Mullin 1-41, Benton 3-15, Cline 2-41, TD, Hall 2-(-4)

Passing

North Central — 1-6-1 – Trench 1-3-1, Thomas 0-3-0

South Putnam — 13-18-278 4 TDs – Mullin 11-15-266, 4 TDs, Cline 2-3-12

Receiving

North Central — Simmons 1-1

South Putnam — W. Switzer 4-83, 2 TDs, Hanley 3-143, 2 TDs, Jefferson 3-38, Burdge 1-10, Tincher 1-2, Stanley 1-2