FOOTBALL CLASS 2A SECTIONAL NO. 34: Stars use three non-offensive touchdowns to help ground Cougars

North Putnam's Christian Kramer (3) tries to fend off the attention of Western Boone's Jacob Smith (33) during Friday night's Class 2A Sectional No. 34 opener. Kramer had three rushing touchdowns and added a fourth through the air but the Cougars couldn't keep the Stars from running free in a 56-27 loss.

Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN

BAINBRIDGE — In the postseason, games often come down to who makes the big plays.

Western Boone returned two punts and an interception for touchdowns and pulled away from North Putnam in a 56-27 victory in the opening round of the IHSAA Football Class 2A Sectional No. 34.

The vaunted Wing-T offense of Stars drove down the field on the game's opening drive, but a big 15-yard penalty stalled the drive.

Cougar quarterback Christian Kramer broke free for what looked like a 59-yard score, but it was called back by penalty as the teams battled to a scoreless first quarter.

The game would not remain scoreless for long. The Stars powered down the field and capped off the drive with a two-yard score from Jacob Smith to take a lead early in the second.

On the next drive, the Cougars were forced to go into punt formation, but a snap sailed over Kramer’s head and set up the Stars on the 18-yard line. They wasted little time as quarterback Brandon Potter hit Marcus Fortner in the end zone as the visitors went up two scores.

Western Boone’s defense then forced a three and out and Blake Wasson took the punt and scrambled 61 yards for the score. Within five minutes the Stars were up 21-0.

The Cougars started to fight back. Kramer hit Kaden Helderman on a 38-yard gain, later breaking loose on a 30-yard scoring run to get the hosts on the board. The game went to half with Western Boone holding a 21-6 advantage.

To start the second half, the Cougars took the kickoff and marched down field but the Stars’ Levi Adkins stepped in front of a screen pass and sprinted 79 yards for another score.

North countered right away. It took just two plays as Kramer hit Griffen Starr on a 64-yard scoring strike to pull within 28-13.

The Stars then went back to their bread and butter and ground out a 12-play drive which ended with a Smith 12-yard run.

North then started finding its groove on offense. Kramer capped off a drive with a seven-yard score to make 35-20.

Western Boone did not let up, answering the call one more time when Fortner took a handoff on a counter play and went 29 yards untouched.

The Stars put the game out of reach early in the final quarter as Wasson struck again, this time taking a punt and sprinting 46 yards for the score to put the visitors up 49-20.

The Cougars added one more score on a Kramer 25-yard run.

The Stars added a late score after North was forced to go for it on fourth down. Potter would do a quarterback keeper to punch it in from three-yards out to clinch the opening-round win.

“Our kids played hard. That’s a Western Boone program that we are trying to get to. We were right there. We gave up a couple special teams errors on punt returns. We competed. We got stops, 21 of those points were not on the defense. Really proud of our kids,” Cougar coach Scott Moore said.

The Cougar season ended with a 7-3 record. Western Boone now moves on to face No. 1 Lafayette Central Catholic.

Kramer finished with three rushing scores and 83 yards plus 226 passing yards and one score. Starr and Helderman combined for 172 receiving yards.

Scoring Summary

2nd Quarter

WB 9:06 Smith 2 run (Velazquez kick) 7-0

WB 6:00 Potter 18 pass to Fortner (Velazquez kick) 14-0

WB 4:36 Wasson 61 punt return (Velazquez kick) 21-0

NP 3:00 Kramer 30 run (kick failed) 21-6

3rd Quarter

WB 10:41 Adkins 79 int return (Velazquez kick) 28-6

NP 10:32 Kramer 64 pass to Starr (Chew kick) 28-13

WB 3:57 Smith 13 run (Velazquez kick) 35-13

NP 2:08 Kramer 7 run (Chew kick) 35-20

WB :12 Fortner 11 run (Velazquez kick) 42-20

4th Quarter

WB 11:32 Wasson 46 punt return (Velazquez kick) 49-20

NP 6:01 Kramer 25 run (Chew kick) 49-27

WB 2:17 Potter 3 run (Velazquez kick) 56-27

Team Stats

Individual Stats

Rushing - (NP) Kramer 15-83, Starr 4-27, Murphy 4-8, Thurman 3-7, Sullivan 2-5; (WB) Amich 18-107, Smith 14-98, Potter 9-53, Fortner 4-37, Yancey 2-1, Sheets 1-1

Passing - (NP) Kramer 17-32-226-1-1, Thurman 0-1-0-0-0, Starr 0-1-0-0-0; (WB) Potter 5-11-53-1-0

Receiving - (NP) Starr 4-89, Helderman 5-83, O’Brien 2-25, Murphy 3-7,Rowe 1-25, Barber 1-1, Hankins 1-16; (WB) Fortner 3-37, Saunders 2-16