Football Friday: Battle of the No. 1s as Eagles, Saints clash again; Tiger Cubs, Clovers look for first wins; Cougars aim for 2-0 start with trip to Mounties

Editor’s Note: Due to high heat and heat indexes, the North Putnam/North Montgomery game has been moved back to an 8 p.m. start time and the Northview/Greencastle games has been moved back to a 7:30 p.m. start time. As of press time, there were no announcements made regarding the start times changing for the Indianapolis Lutheran/South Putnam and Cloverdale/Edinburgh games but be on the look out for any changes before heading out Friday night.

One of the top matchups in the state of Indiana will take place at the junction of U.S. 40 and U.S. 231 Friday night as A No. 1 South Putnam hosts 2A No. 1 Indianapolis Lutheran in a major test for the Eagles, who have lost the last four meetings against the Saints, including the last two postseasons.

Elsewhere, Greencastle will try again for its first win of the season when it hosts Northview, as will Cloverdale as it ventures to southern Johnson County to face Edinburgh.

North Putnam, meanwhile, will look for its first 2-0 start since 2019 when it travels to Southmont.

South Putnam and Lutheran have become familiar postseason foes over the past decade, first meeting in 2013 when the Eagles toppled the Saints 42-28 to win a sectional title.

Since then, Lutheran has won the other four meetings, including knocking South Putnam out of sectional play the past two years on the way to state titles.

There won’t be many surprises for both teams as a result with the battle between quarterbacks, Saint senior Jackson Willis and Eagle senior Wyatt Mullin, among the bigger points of contention.

Lutheran defeated Christel House Manuel 41-14 to open the season, limiting Christel House to 78 yards of total offense, while South Putnam defeated Speedway 28-20, getting 141 yards from Ty Benton on the ground as part of a 295-yard team effort but only 70 passing yards on the night.

Northview opened its season with a 34-20 win over Terre Haute North, its fourth-straight win over the Patriots, while Greencastle fell to Monrovia 35-21 in the two schools’ first meeting since their time as members of the West Central Conference.

The Knights kept their run-heavy ways going, rushing for 294 yards in week one but got 157 yards through the air from junior quarterback Colton Bath, who also led the run game with 102 yards on 11 carries.

Defensively, Northview gave up a couple big plays but held Terre Haute North to 274 yards of offense and eight first downs.

Greencastle was hit hard by Monrovia’s ground game a week ago, allowing 449 yards rushing against a specialized formation and will be facing a more familiar spread look from the Knights.

Cole Stephens passed for 275 yards in week one but will need more from the ground game, which only amassed 52 yards on 19 carries.

Cameron Pingleton, pulling double-duty for the first time, was still in on 14 tackles defensively, eight solo, while the Tiger Cubs won the turnover battle 2-0.

North Putnam’s 52-20 romp over North Montgomery was a big step forward for the program with Christian Kramer rushing for 216 yards and scoring six rushing touchdowns. Kramer didn’t need to go to the air too much but connected on all six passes for another 91 yards.

The Cougar defense did have some trouble keeping Charger receiver Kelby Harwood away from the ball as the senior accounted for eight receptions and 151 yards, along with two scores, netting nearly 60 percent of North Montgomery’s total offensive output.

Southmont, meanwhile, picked up where it left off last season with 124 yards on the ground and three scores from Avery Stadler as the Mounties rushed for 300 yards in a 42-14 win over Fountain Central, scoring all 42 points in the first half.

Quarterback Heath Tolliver had a 58-yard rushing score and both of his completions went for scores on the night.

Defensively, Southmont allowed 188 yards on the ground but many of those yards came in the second half with the JV defense on the field.

Cloverdale was a point away from starting the 2024 season with a bang, falling short to Riverton Parke 34-33.

The Clovers found a solid balance of rushing and passing, throwing for 179 yards through Landon Duncan and rushing for 160 yards but a pair of turnovers and a late Panther score were too much to overcome in the end.

Edinburgh also started off the season 0-1, only producing 134 yards of offense in a 32-14 loss to Indianapolis Tindley.

The Tigers torched the Lancers 4-2-5 formation through the air for 310 yards while adding 140 more yards on the ground.

Edinburgh struggled to get much going in its spread offense,, rushing for 60 yards on 28 carries while getting 74 yards on 8-of-18 passing.