The high school football season has officially arrived in Putnam County, as the road to Lucas Oil Stadium and a state championship is underway.
This season offers a new face in a familiar place, as well as high expectations for all four teams.
Week One features an intra-county matchup between South Putnam and Cloverdale, while North Putnam hits the road for a meeting with North Montgomery and Greencastle opens the season with Dave Stephens at the helm against Danville.
Here's a look at all three games.
South Putnam vs. Cloverdale, 7 p.m., Wildman Field
Coverage on Giant fm Sports on WREB begins at 6:40 p.m.
The football season begins with the Putnam County rivalry between South Putnam and Cloverdale kicking things off.
For South Putnam, Chuck Sorrell's team brings back 17 starters from a team that went 7-3 and ended with a loss to eventual Class A champion Lutheran in the sectional tournament.
The Eagles enter with high expectations, as they are ranked seventh in the preseason Indiana Football Coaches Poll and enters the season fresh off a huge offseason that saw significant gains in the weight room, according to coach Chuck Sorrell.
"This will be the strongest (weight room) team we have had in my 5 years. This class has been lifting with me since 8th grade and the gains are really beginning to show. We have also added a lot of speed and explosion work into the lifts. Every position has gotten bigger, stronger and faster since last football season. We currently have five 500 pound squatters and 12 over 405," Sorrell said.
Sorrell believes in his defense, which is led by linebacker Austin Beadles, who notched 174 tackles and 18 stops for a loss last season.
"We return 9 of those starters and we have a chance to be really good on defense," Sorrells said.
A season ago, South Putnam knocked off Cloverdale, 70-0, but Sorrells knows his team cannot afford to overlook anyone, any week.
"With three new coaches in the county in the past two years, we have to continue to get better to make sure we are ready to defend that crown. All three schools are doing great jobs of building football programs so we can not look past any of them. I think everyone will think we are down because we lost 13 seniors, but that is a good thing for us. I feel we will have the best overall team that we have had in my five years," Sorrell said.
As for Cloverdale, the Clovers enter with second year head coach Tyler Lotz and a push to improve on last season's 1-10 mark and secure the first winning season since 1996.
A season ago, Cloverdale was plagued by turnovers, something that has been a point of emphasis during the offseason in Lotz's messaging.
"We lost games we should have won because of turnovers and we let games get out of hand because of turnovers. We didn't do a great job of taking care of the ball and we didn't create enough turnovers on defense to balance ourselves out. That is the main focus going forward along with some other tweaks that will need to be made," Lotz said.
The Clovers bring back several skill players, including running back Levi Johnson, and Lotz admits he is excited about this season.
"We want to take that momentum we created last year and snow ball it into something bigger and better this year. I believe we're headed in the right direction and I'm excited to see what this group can do in our '23 season," Lotz said.
Greencastle vs. Danville, 7 p.m., Harbison Stadium
The David Stephens Era begins in earnest against Danville, who replaces Crispus Attucks as the season opening opponent for 2023.
The last time these two teams played was in the 2021 sectional, which Danville won 41-7.
Stephens, a 1997 Greencastle graduate and former Owen County offensive coordinator, looks to build off of last year's 4-6 campaign that ended with a loss to Cascade in the sectional tournament.
The Tiger Cubs look to improve on a 4-6 season that ended with a loss to Cascade in the sectional tournament.
Greencastle enters the season with a spread offense and looking to get the ball into the hands of its playmakers early and often, according to Stephens.
"Offensively, we run a spread offense and we will definitely spread the wealth. I am particularly excited about the emergence of Owen Huff at receiver. Lamar Moore at running back has been really explosive this summer. Brayden Monroe has had a breakout season at tight end and defensive end this summer," Stephens said.
It will be the job of freshman quarterback Cole Stephens, who stands 6-foot-2-inches, to distribute the ball.
"Cole has done a wonderful job of being the conductor of our air raid attack. Cole means an awful lot to our offense and to our team meeting the goals that we have set out for ourselves. The thing that I find the most impressive about him is at 14 years old. He has established himself as one of the team leaders," Stephens said.
With a new coach and new schemes in place, Stephens wants the Tiger Cubs to focus on two things.
"Our goal is to focus on ourselves and control what we can control. As long as we take care of our own business, we should be able to compete in our conference and our sectional," Stephens said.
Danville enters with some playmakers on both sides of the football, starting with offensive lineman Evan Lawrence, who has committed to Indiana.
Quarterback Conner Soper, a junior, returns after throwing for over 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns and he has weapon Jace Scrafton back. A season ago, Scrafton caught 22 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, Steven Webb returns after notching 102 tackles.
North Putnam at North Montgomery, 7 p.m.
North Putnam will look to improve on last season's 4-6 campaign when they hit the road for a date with North Montgomery.
A season ago, the Cougars fell 36-7 in the opener en route to an 0-4 start. However, North Putnam was able to correct things, winning four of its last six games.
During the process, North Putnam showed an ability to put points on the board, scoring or surpassing 50 points three times.
Moore said last year's record was the byproduct of a new staff and new system.
"We had a great senior class that bought in and did everything they were asked of. They will be tough to replace, but we have a lot of young guys that now know what it takes to be successful and we are confident in them. We knew that we had a tough schedule to start the year and even though we were in each game at certain points and competitive, we let some get away from us on the scoreboard. We played a lot of guys that were not able to have any JV experience in the years prior and now that they have had a year of Friday nights we are looking for them to be leaders on and off the field. We finished the season strong going 4-1 in our last 5 regular season games and played a tough Sullivan team to a 4 quarter game in the sectional. Our JV team went undefeated last season and some of those guys will have to step into new roles, but we also started several freshmen on Friday nights, so they will have to be leaders as sophomores with the experience they have," Moore admitted.
Moore said the Cougars will feature some young linemen, who have gotten stronger in the weight room, as well as some young skill players that he is looking forward to seeing.
"We have some young receivers/defensive backs and a couple of running backs/linebackers that are looking to take over every down roles and had a great spring catching and knowing the offense and defense. Our quarterback had a great offseason attending camps and throwing well this spring, as he has also gotten a lot stronger this offseason," Moore said.
Moore believes this could be a special season for the Cougars.
"If we continue to buy in as a team and do things the right way in all aspects, I am confident that we can put ourselves in positions to be successful this upcoming season," Moore said.
North Montgomery went 5-5 last year, allowing just under 19 points per game while averaging 22.6 points per game.
The Chargers bring back quarterback Ross Dyson, as well as running backs Austin Sulc and Noah Hopkins, along with receivers Jarrod Kirsch and Roman Utterback.
Last season, Dyson threw for just under 900 yards and eight touchdowns and added another 491 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Sulc scampered for 505 yards and seven touchdowns, while recording 83 total tackles and five sacks on defense.
