South Putnam picks up huge road win at Greencastle

The message from South Putnam head coach Chuck Sorrell to his seniors heading into Friday's contest against county foe Greencastle was a simple one -- did they want a winning record against the Tiger Cubs. 

The message was well received and delivered upon, as South Putnam improved to 2-2 on the season with a huge 41-14 victory over Greencastle, who fell to 1-3. With the win, South Putnam's senior class finished with a 3-1 record in the series. 

"Our seniors stepped up tonight. For us to be really good, our seniors have to lead us. Our seniors have a goal and that is to win county, win conference and win state championship level games. We blew probably the conference and county last week by letting North Putnam beat us, but this was a big one. We had to beat Greencastle, and we had the best three days of practice that we have had since we started up. We have got to have that every week to keep doing what we are doing," Sorrell told GIANT fm after the game. 

Early on, it looked like fans may be in for a tight ball game, as Greencastle came out and got a quick 7-0 lead following a 19 yard touchdown run from Cayden Blodgett. 

The Eagles answered right back with a touchdown of their own, as Keenan Mowery-Shields found a seam and plunged in from a yard out, tying the game at 7-7.

The Tiger Cubs would take a 14-7 advantage after a four yard touchdown run from Parker Welker. The lead would be short lived, as South Putnam quarterback Wyatt Mullin hit Bransyn Harley for a 35-yard touchdown pass, tying the game at 14-14.

"We got smacked around early. It was back and forth and those first four series, we hit each other in the mouth in offense. When I called that timeout it was to get in our face and make that adjustment. I asked what were we going to do and I thought we hit them in the mouth the last three quarters," Sorrell said.

Did they ever. 

On Greencastle's next possession, South Putnam's defense forced the Tiger Cubs into a punting situation and a host of Eagles blocked the punt, which was scooped up by lineman Parker Harris and taken back in for a three yard touchdown, giving South Putnam a 20-14 lead and all the momentum going into the half. 

"We made some good adjustments after those first two serieses and we finally got a stop, and the rest is history. The South Put football team looked like a pretty good football team," Sorrell said.

South Putnam would extend its lead early in the third quarter with a 72 yard touchdown pitch and catch from MullIN to Hanley, who finished with four catches for 195 yards. The Eagles would get touchdowns from Mowrey-Shields and Ty Benton down the stretch for the final score. 

While he was pleased with the win, Sorrell said there was still plenty left for South Putnam to improve on. 

"We have a lot of cleaning up to do. Every week is about us. We have to block like this, we have to pass well and our special teams have to play like this. It's all about us now. We will be favored the next five weeks, I would assume, and we can't come out and have letdowns. We have to dominate football games the way we are supposed to," Sorrell said.

Mullin finished with 206 yards passing, something Sorrell was happy to see.

"Attention to detail. Our ones and our twos needed to catch the football. Wyatt put it on them. If we can run effectively and throw effectively, we are going to be a hard team to beat," Sorrell said. 

Greencastle was led by Brayden Monroe, who rushed 16 times for 126 yards, while Blodgett added 90 yards on 12 touches.