It has been said that a good defense can pave the road to a state championship run, and if that adage is true, the South Putnam football team could be in great position.
Heading into Friday's road trip to rival North Putnam, the Eagles have allowed an average of 3 points per game and held Owen Valley to 11 yards on the ground.
"It was a hard fought victory. The kids played their heart out and showed they have what it takes to work through adversity and challenge teams for championships," coach Chuck Sorrel told The Putnam County Post.
In the win, the Eagles got strong play out of its defense, as well as balance out of its offense.
"We're pretty good on defense. I'd put our front six or seven up against anyone in A or 2A," Sorrell said.
On offense, the Eagles threw for 165 yards and rushed for another 175 on the ground, as South Putnam continues to get strong play out of quarterback Wyatt Mullins.
"Wyatt Mullins is a great athlete. He's in his third season starting for us and we knew his freshman and sophomore seasons, he was still still growing and coming into his own. Now, we have really broken him loose and he has confidence not only in himself, but his teammates to get the job done on the field," Sorrel said.
In addition, the Eagles got big play out of wide receiver/safety Drew Hill and senior middle linebacker Aiden Beadles.
"Drew's ability to catch the ball and read on defense has helped our team out dramatically. Aiden broke our single game sack record Friday at three-and-a-half and was all over the field on tackles. How he hasn't been offered scholarships amazes me. He is a hidden gem that any high caliber college program would love to have," Sorrel said.
Challenging teams for championships is something Sorrel has tried to do since he arrived at South Putnam, who is ranked 5th this week in the IFCA Coaches Poll.
In 2020, the Eagles finished 12-1, falling to Covenant Christian in the regional, and he admits his team has the potential to make another run and, perhaps, go even further.
"We, as a staff, knew we are building this team to win championships and to challenge Lutheran because if you want to win it all, it goes through them as they have proven the last three to four years. We knew our kids were coming, several of them have started for us as freshmen and sophomores, so it was just a matter of time before they grew into the athletes we have believed they can become," Sorrel said.
His vision is starting to take shape for the South Putnam football team, and Sorrel notes it has been "rewarding" to see.
"Seeing our vision that my staff and I have worked hard to build has been a great reward, but also to see a great continued tradition that has been here at South Putnam for a while, coaches like Hall of Fame coach Mark Wildman, coach Troy Burgess or any of our previous head coaches built before us, which is winning championships. We are honored to carry on that tradition and hope to add to it even more," Sorrel said.
Sorrel said his team enters a critical period of the schedule with rivals North Putnam and Greencastle the next two weeks with quite a bit of momentum and confidence after the big win against Owen Valley.
"Our motto is win the county, then the conference and then the tournament, so we are excited to keep grinding and keep improving each week going forward," he said.
In order to stay focused, Sorrel said it starts and ends in practice, film study and the weight room, stating he and his coaching staff push the players to continue to grind.
"Keep working on any little thing to keep you mentally prepared, including keep working on your grades in school. We have always had a great scout/JV to practice against as well so that helps us to keep getting better every week, not to mention it helps those young guys get better for the future, too. We really mean it when we say we have 25 guys who are ready and can play varsity ball at any given moment. That is huge for a 1A program and allows our young players to keep working hard at JV and to improve just like they would at a big school program. Maybe they don't see significant varsity time until they are juniors or even seniors at those schools, but when they finally do, they don't miss a beat and can compete against anybody," Sorrel said.
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