FOOTBALL FRIDAY: County clashes conclude regular season as Tiger Cubs square off with Cougars and Clovers host Eagles

The final week of the regular season has arrived and with it comes a pair of county matchups to send the four county schools into postseason play.

Greencastle and North Putnam tangle before heading off to their respective Class 2A sectionals while South Putnam and Cloverdale will do likewise ahead of Class A sectional play.

Greencastle (2-6) at North Putnam (7-1) 7 p.m.

Last 35 Years: Greencastle 19, North Putnam 19

Last Meeting: Greencastle 30-29, Oct. 20, 2023

John Harrell Prediction: North Putnam 42-28

Giant FM 94.3 WREB will broadcast this game; This game will be livestreamed on IHSAAtv.org

Two teams with wildly different seasons meet again after a pair of close encounters in 2023, both won by the Tiger Cubs.

While no conference stakes are on the line this year, both will be looking to springboard into sectional play with momentum as Greencastle received a favorable draw while North Putnam has a tough path to reach a sectional final.

The Tiger Cubs were on the wrong end of Cascade’s running machine a week ago, allowing 424 yards on the ground to the Cadets and will need to tighten up the run defense to keep the Cougars from doing the same.

Cole Stephens did throw a touchdown pass in the loss but only had 77 yards on his 15 completions, 29 coming on the scoring pass to Trevin Long.

Greencastle’s running game didn’t fare much better as Cayden Blodgett gained 50 yards on 11 carries but negative rushing yards meant the team as a whole only gained 39 yards on the ground.

North Putnam, meanwhile, racked up 306 yards on the ground on 32 carries against Brown County with Christian Kramer accounting for 192 of that total.

Kramer sits at 2,885 total yards of offense on the season, second most in the state, with 1,527 yards in the air and 1,358 yards on the ground.

Paxton O’Brien continued his recent surge of scoring, adding two touchdown receptions against the Eagles after two touchdown receptions the prior Week against West Vigo.

While the Cougar defense held Brown County to -40 rushing yards, the backend was hit for 163 yards through the air, an area the team will have to do better in against Greencastle.

South Putnam (6-2) at Cloverdale (4-3) 7 p.m.

Last 35 Years: South Putnam 34, Cloverdale 4

Last Meeting: South Putnam 69-0, Aug. 18, 2023

John Harrell Prediction: South Putnam 38-24

While the Clovers have been underwater against all the county schools, games against the Eagles have been particularly lopsided in recent seasons as South Putnam has won the last four meetings by a combined score of 265-6.

That likely won’t be the case with a Cloverdale team looking to throw everything at the Eagles, especially with a bye in the sectional draw meaning the Clovers will have a week to recover before hitting the road to begin postseason play.

South Putnam handled business against Owen Valley without wild numbers, passing for 196 yards and rushing for 141 against the Patriots in the 58-7 win.

Ty Benton accounted for 102 of the 141 yards on the ground with four rushing touchdowns on the night, nearly doubling his season total to nine for the year.

Wyatt Switzer also continued to work his way back into the offense, catching four passes for 63 yards, while Bransyn Ensor adding 92 yards on just three receptions, two going for scores.

The Eagle defense kept Owen Valley under 100 yards on the night but still allowed a score after a turnover of their own and will have to be more focused against a much sharper Cloverdale offense.

The Clovers come in after blowing two-score leads twice against West Vigo in a 34-33 loss, allowing over 500 yards of offense to the Vikings with 203 coming through then air and 305 on the ground.

It’s the second time Cloverdale has lost 34-33 this season, the other time coming in the opening game of the season to Riverton Parke.

Levi Johnson and Tayt Jackson both scored twice and Landon Duncan added a score, though for the first time this season, the Clovers did not have a passing touchdown.

Cloverdale’s last win in the series came in 2006, a 6-0 win Sept. 22, the longest stretch without a win against a county school coming into the 2024 season.