FOOTBALL FRIDAY: Cougars look to lock up WIC title; Eagles, Clovers hit the road while Tiger Cubs tangle with hard-running Cadets

North Putnam has the opportunity to wrap up the WIC Small School Division title this weekend while South Putnam and Cloverdale will hope Brown County can throw the race back open as the penultimate week of the 2024 season approaches.

The Cougars, Eagles and Clovers will all be on the road this week with South Putnam traveling to Owen Valley and Cloverdale at West Vigo while Greencastle concludes its five-game homestand with 3A No. 9 Cascade.

Cascade (7-0) at Greencastle (2-5) 7 p.m.

Last 35 Years: Greencastle 18, Cascade 15

Last Meeting: Cascade won 50-24, Oct. 21, 2022

John Harrell Prediction: Cascade 42-17

Giant FM 94.3 WREB will broadcast this game

The Tiger Cubs’ ability to strike quickly will be useful as the Cadets, a team averaging 350 yards rushing a game, are not the type to control the clock so much as run the equivalent of a fastbreak Wing-T offense to run teams over.

In the loss to Cloverdale, Greencastle was outgained 386-279 but was still able to score in quick succession, needing 50 seconds for its first score and 1:15 for its final score of the game.

Part of that comes down to Cole Stephens, who is 32 yards shy of 1,500 passing yards for the season with Ian Williamson and Anthony Adams both over 400 yards receiving for the season.

Cayden Blodgett (285 yards) has handled the bulk of running duties the past few weeks with Brayden Monroe (289 yards) banged up.

Parker Welker leads the defense with 84 tackles, seven for loss, with Jacob Simmerman, Alex Grove and Chris Olson all at 50 tackles or more for the season.

Cascade has been spearheaded by several underclassmen out of the backfield with eight different runners having topped 100 yards rushing this season led by junior Dayton Mink, who leads the team with 770 yards on 103 carries and 10 scores.

Lucas Farmer (374 yards, four TD), Brady Trebley (367 yards, eight TD) and Toby Savini (309 yards, four TD) also present threats while seniors Daemen Mason (204 yards) and Tyler Hege (172 yards) offer added depth.

Trebley has completed 43 of his 70 passes this season for 567 yards and eight touchdowns with three receivers having 100 yards to their name in JT Roshong (122 yards), Marcus Hobson (119 yards) and Braxton Lewis (115 yards).

Lucas Farmer (47 tackles) leads a balanced defense with Lewis (43 tackles) and Roshong (40 tackles) helping to keep teams under wraps, including holding Northview to 76 yards rushing a week ago in a 41-14 win. The Cadets have only allowed one 100-yard rusher this season.

North Putnam (6-1) at Brown County (4-3) 7 p.m.

Last 35 Years: North Putnam 4, Brown County 1

Last Meeting: North Putnam 58-8, Oct. 6, 2023

John Harrell Prediction: North Putnam 49-17

The Cougars will look to finish up their time in the WIC with their first conference title in the sport if they defeat the Eagles Friday.

North Putnam moved to 3-0 in conference play after running for 491 yards against West Vigo last week in its 56-22 win as Christian Kramer ran for 245 yards and Wes Murphy another 156 yards.

Kramer, who leads the state in total yards by a total of seven yards over Brebeuf Jesuit quarterback Maverick Geske (2,535-2,528), has thrown for 1,367 yards and rushed for 1,168 yards on the season with 26 total touchdowns.

Murphy broke the 500-yard mark for the season, sitting at 506 yards rushing while adding another 288 yards receiving. Griffen Starr (388 yards) and Kaiden Helderman (355 yards) lead the receiving corps while Paxton O’Brien (161 yards) led the Cougars with three receptions for 63 yards and two scores against West Vigo.

Caiden Hankins (67 tackles) leads the defense with Murphy (61 tackles) not far behind while Owen Thurman (58 tackles) and Kyler Hankins (50 tackles) have helped solidify the second level.

Brown County struggled heavily against South Putnam in its 59-6 loss, only getting 12 yards on the ground on 28 carries and 50 yards through the air.

Noah Lewis was keyed by the South Putnam defense and ended the night with negative-18 yards rushing and 50 yards passing, though he was able to get a 38-yard scoring pass to AJ Bell to avoid the shutout.

Greyson Mitchell led Brown County with 23 yards rushing on 13 carries. The Eagles won the first meeting between the schools when the divisions were created in 2020 34-31 but have not beaten the Cougars since.

South Putnam (5-2) at Owen Valley (0-7) 7 p.m.

Last 35 Years: Owen Valley 17, South Putnam 16

Last Meeting: South Putnam 46-6, Aug. 25, 2023

John Harrell Prediction: South Putnam 45-10

The Eagles strolled to a win over Brown County last week, utilizing four turnovers as part of a 59-6 rout.

South Putnam had some problems with ball security, dropping the rock four times and losing it twice, but strolled to a win by suffocating Brown County’s offense, only allowing 62 total yards, while only needing 280 yards of offense themselves.

Wyatt Mullin was 8-of-10 for 116 yards, bringing his season total up to 730 yards on the season with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions. Mullin also has 238 yards on the ground this season.

Wyatt Switzer’s return will help the passing game as the senior caught four passes for 44 yards and a score, taking some of the pressure off Bransyn Ensor, who leads the team with 464 yards and five scores.

Ty Benton continues to be the primary running threat, rushing for 630 yards and nine scores on the year.

Keenan Mowery-Shields broke the 100-tackle mark, sitting on 108 for the season, with Hunter Weddle adding 75 tackles to form a strong linebacker pair. Zach Dorsett continues to lead the team with 13.5 tackles for loss, including 6.5 sacks, while Drew Cline has four interceptions to lead the team.

Owen Valley has struggled mightily all season with freshman quarterback Parker Greene just 26-of-62 for 250 yards, two scores and seven interceptions.

The ground game has struggled with Elijah Anderson out since the loss to Northview with Braddock Nickless leading the team with 325 yards on 62 carries while Greene has 166 yards on 44 carries. Rhett Manuel leads the receiving corps with 66 yards on 10 catches.

Nickless also leads the defense with 45 tackles while Tye Voss has added another 41 tackles.

Cloverdale (4-2) at West Vigo (2-5) 7 p.m.

Last 35 Years: West Vigo 8, Cloverdale 1

Last Meeting: West Vigo 43-18, Oct. 6, 2023

John Harrell Prediction: Cloverdale 42-24

The Clovers will be looking to strike off another team that the school has not beaten in recent memory as the last win came in the 2007 season, a 14-13 victory.

In the 26-21 win over Greencastle, Cloverdale put together several long scoring drives and outgained the Tiger Cubs by 107 yards on the day.

Levi Johnson rushed for 102 yards and sits five yards away from 500 for the season while Tayt Jackson sits at 418 yards on the ground with six scores.

Landon Duncan doubled his interception total for the year against Greencastle but still had a solid game, throwing for 239 yards and three scores, bringing his total to 1,270 yards for the season on 63-of-99 passing with 22 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Jackson has been Duncan’s primary target with 642 yards on the season and 11 scores while Ben Campbell (196 yards), Marcus Boyd (166 yards) and Jace Gardner (112 yards, six TD) have been effective when called upon.

Carson Caulkins (74 tackles, four sacks) continues to be a strong presence at the linebacker level alongside Connor Smith (38 tackles) and Johnson (26 tackles).

West Vigo could do little to slow down North Putnam’s running game in its 56-22 loss but did manage to move the ball, picking up 190 yards on the ground and 150 passing yards.

Connor Wallace had 81 yards and Jacob Dewey gained 79 yards on the ground to pace the Vikings while Landon Fields threw for 131 yards on 11 completions, getting the ball to Alan Ramirez (58 yards) and Chase Heden (48 yards) four times apiece.