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South Putnam wins back Putnam County Bucket from Greencastle
Somewhere around the time its defense watched as Greencastle piled into the endzone for a second time, a switch flicked inside South Putnam.
The Eagles, trailing 14-7 with less than four minutes until halftime, struck back quickly to tie the game, got a blocked punt returned for a score before the break and controlled the remainder of the contest, scoring three times in the second half to defeat the Tiger Cubs 41-14 Friday night.
“(Greencastle head coach Dave) Stephens did a good job of mixing things up,” South Putnam head coach Chuck Sorrell said. “They were able to get into a wishbone setup with their normal personnel that gave us some fits.
“We wanted to man up on (Greencastle) tonight. Our defensive backs have been criticized for three weeks now and we did a good job of manning them up. We had two series where we had to make adjustments but once we got our adjustments made, it was all South Putnam football after that.”
“(South Putnam) conceded the run, play two- or three-high and make sure they rolled extra guys over to our guys while rushing three,” Stephens said. “When teams decide to play us that way, we have to commit to running the ball and, against some teams, that’s going to be a strategy.
“As we see those types of defenses more, we’re going to have to figure out our gameplan. I’m very happy with the way our kids played effort- and maturity-wise. This is a high-emotion game; even when it wasn’t going our way in the second half, our kids kept their cool for the most part.
“As coaches, I’ve got to do a better job of figuring some things out,” Stephens added. “(Chuck) came in with a good gameplan tonight. We’re going to watch some film, see what they did and figure out adjustments for when we face them next year.”
Neither side got off to a particularly hot start as South Putnam went three-and-out to start while Greencastle, despite a 30-yard run from Brayden Monroe on its first snap, saw Cole Stephens intercepted by Wyatt Mullin on its second play.
The Eagles gambled early but failed to convert on fourth-and-two inside their own half of the field and the hosts broke out the wishbone offense to great effect.
A quick six-play, 42-yard drive followed with Monroe getting the first three carries, Parker Welker the next two and Cayden Blodgett applying the finishing blow with a 19-yard score for a 7-0 lead.
The visitors responded with a 10-play scoring drive of their own, getting both a fortuitous bounce on a fumble and fourth-down conversion following a slightly muffed snap to keep the drive going.
A 36-yard pass from Mullin to Bransyn Ensor set South Putnam up at the Greencastle four-yard line and two plunges from Keenan Mowery-Shields eventually saw the ball cross the goal line to tie the game at 7-7 just before the end of the first quarter.
The Tiger Cubs picked up a pair of first downs before the period ended but a sack of Stephens by Zach Dorsett forced a punt, though the Eagles punted back after a three-and-out.
Greencastle went back to the wishbone on the next possession and hammered away on the ground, chewing up 62 yards in eight plays with Welker barreling in from three yards out to retake the lead at 14-7 with 3:47 left in the half.
The visitors, facing third-and-10 on their next possession, saw Ensor beat the Tiger Cub defense over the top for a 64-yard score, tying the game at 14-14.
“I didn’t get to see two of (Bransyn’s) catches because we were so busy making adjustments on defense but we were going to keep feeding Bransyn the ball until he got out of his funk,” Sorrell said about the sophomore receiver. “We know he can beat defenders, get behind the defense and we threw the ball up for him to make a play, which he did.”
Drew Cline was close to intercepting Stephens on the next offensive snap, followed by a Dorsett strip sack that cost the host 10 yards and led to a punt deep in its own territory.
The snap to Ian Williamson was low and Dorsett had enough time to split the protection wall, blocking the punt, and Lucas Hall picked up the ball and walked in for a score and a 20-14 lead headed into halftime.
“Our special teams were much better this week,” Sorrell said, referencing miscues against North Putnam. “We had a focus on that this week.
“All three phases of the game were working. That’s Eagle football.”
“(South Putnam) called a timeout right before the play and we alerted that a punt block was afoot,” Stephens said. “We have to do a better job of being better situationally prepared and executing.”
Greencastle started the second half with a first down but another Dorsett sack of Stephens, followed by a second sack by Kason Ames, led to a punt.
Mullin hit Ensor on a hitch route but one juke allowed the sophomore to get to the sideline, winning a 72-yard footrace to the endzone to double South Putnam’s lead to 27-14.
“We had two personnel sets ready after halftime, a nickel set we played most of the game in and a bone package,” Sorrell said about being ready to start the second half to keep the momentum going. “We ran Damon Cox in and Bransyn off.
“When our sophomores are smart enough to run in-and-out on personnel settings, it makes us a very dangerous team. We have a lot of sophomores on defense and when you get criticized, you get criticized, but tonight, they looked a little bit more veteran than sophomores.”
The hosts picked up a first down on the next drive but three straight negative plays led to a punt which, combined with an illegal hands penalty, set up the Eagles at midfield.
An 11-play drive followed with the visitors converting an early fourth down and overcoming a holding penalty, leading to Mowery-Shields plunging in from two yards out twice, once for the touchdown and the other for the conversion, to make it 35-14 two plays into the fourth quarter.
Greencastle picked up two first downs but couldn’t convert on fourth down inside Eagle territory as Trevin Long fumbled shy of the yard to gain and Cline recovered.
South Putnam applied the finishing touch with a six-play, 70-yard drive that finished with Ty Benton fending off several tacklers for a 13-yard score and a 41-14 advantage.
The Tiger Cubs got one more chance but a false start on fourth down led to a turnover on downs and two Mullin knees later, the visitors walked away with the Putnam County Bucket in hand.
“We’ve got a big, strong, physical team and I’m proud of the way the guys ran hard,” Stephens said as the Tiger Cubs rushed for 191 yards. “If we could have stayed score neutral or a score ahead, we could have stuck with the run and the heavy personnel more.
“We got ourselves behind the sticks, didn’t convert to start the third quarter and it’s hard, when you get down 14 points, to stick with that style of play where you eat up half a quarter to score. We found some things toward the end of the game that started to click but it was too little, too late. All the credit goes to South Putnam, its players and staff.”
“We challenged our seniors all week, challenged them, challenged them, challenged them,” Sorrell said. “We asked if they were going to go out winners or losers against Greencastle; they’re 3-1 against Greencastle, which means they’re going out as winners.
“Coach Stephens is doing a heck of a job at Greencastle. We made the right adjustments at the right times and it ended up being a fun night for the Eagles.”
| South Putnam | 7 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 41 |
| Greencastle | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
Scoring
1st Quarter
G — Blodgett 19-yard run (Williamson kick) 4:56 7-0
SP — Mowery-Shields 1-yard run (Cline kick) 0:43 7-7
2nd Quarter
G — Welker 3-yard run (Williamson kick) 3:47 14-7
SP — Ensor 64-yard pass from Mullin (Cline kick) 2:54 14-14
SP — Hall 3-yard blocked punt return (XP no good) 1:28 14-20
3rd Quarter
SP — Ensor 72-yard pass from Mullin (Cline kick) 7:36 14-27
4th Quarter
SP — Mowery-Shields 2-yard run (Mowery-Shields conversion) 11:36 14-35
SP — Benton 13-yard run (XP no good) 5:40 14-41
Statistics
| … | South Putnam | Greencastle |
| Total Offense | 43-357 | 53-227 |
| Rushing | 157 | 191 |
| Passing | 200 | 36 |
| 1st Downs | 10 | 14 |
| 4th Downs | 2-3 | 0-2 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 2 |
| Penalties | 6-45 | 4-33 |
Individual Statistics
Rushing
South Putnam — 34-157, 3 TD — Benton 12-72, TD; Mullin 10-56; Cook 8-21; Mowery-Shields 4-8, 2 TD
Greencastle — 38-191, 2 TD — Monroe 16-126; Blodgett 12-90, TD; Stephens 6-(-43); Welker 4-18, TD
Passing
South Putnam — Mullin 6-9-2000, 2 TD
Greencastle — Stephens 8-15-36, INT
Receiving
South Putnam — Ensor 4-182, 2 TD; Cline 1-10; Stauch 1-8
Greencastle — Long 3-9; Williamson 2-24; Welker 1-7; Adams 1-(-1); Monroe 1-(-3)