With the second half of the high school football season set to kick off Friday, all four Putnam County teams find themselves in a position to garner success and build towards a late season push into the postseason.
This week, Cloverdale heads to South Decatur, North Decatur hosts Cascade, South Putnam takes on West Vigo and Greencastle plays at Brown County.
Here's a look at all four matchups.
North Putnam (1-4) vs. Cascade (3-2), 7 p.m. Cougar Stadium, WREB coverage begins at 6:40 p.m.
Fresh off a win over Cloverdale, 48-0, the North Putnam Cougars are looking to build some momentum heading into the second half of the season.
Standing in its way is the Cascade Cadets, who are 3-2 despite losing to Lutheran, 49-13, last week.
In the win over Cloverdale last week, all scoring took place in the first half for the Cougars, as a running clock brought about a rapid second half.
Quarterback Christian Kramer was a huge part in North Putnam's success last week, as he hit Brogan Woodall for the first score, as North Putnam also got touchdowns from Braden Glaze, Wes Murphy and Paxton O'Brien last week. In addition, Kramer, who finished with 10 carries for 138 yards and was 14-of-19 for 191 yards through the air. North Putnam ended with 213 yards on the ground and forced four turnovers.
As a unit, North Putnam enters averaging 28 points and allowing just under 34 points a contest.
Kramer believes last week's win can "set the tone" for the rest of the season for the Cougars.
"I think that last week set the tone for the rest of the season. We are hot, hungry and coming to play. As a collective, we have a chip on our shoulder, and we're going to continue to play with it. Our offense and defense have been clicking and progressing day in and day out. The area has counted us out, and that extra motivation is all we need," Kramer told The Putnam County Post.
Kramer has the attention of Cascade coach Connor Simmons.
"Christian Kramer is a really good player," Simmons said.
South Putnam (4-1) vs. West Vigo (1-4)
At 2-1 in the Western Indiana Conference's Green Division, South Putnam looks to stay in the mix of a title when they roll out the red carpet for West Vigo (1-4, 1-1).
The Eagles bounced back from a loss to Greencastle last week by thumping Edgewood, 56-13.
In that game, Zach Dorsett had two receiving touchdowns, while Bransyn Hanley added two receiving touchdowns and had two 80 yard kick returns for touchdowns for Chuck Sorrell's South Putnam squad.
"We have a few discipline cases and a few injuries we will fight through. We have a lot of young guys stepping up and filling in the gaps, which will really help us in the long haul," Sorrell said.
The young guys stepped up nicely last week, as South Putnam started five freshmen last week.
"They all made some type of contribution. Bransyn had four touchdowns. Kennan played every snap and had 10 tackles. Blake held every extra point and caught punts, plus a reception and no blown coverage. Brody had a few great blocks and two tackles on special teams. JV games are great, but contributions on Friday night is the best learning curve a young player can have," Sorrell said.
The Eagles soar into Friday's matchup averaging 49.6 points and allowing just over 15 points, while West Vigo enters fresh off a 41-21 win over Brown County last week.
According to Sorrel, West Vigo presents some issues for South Putnam.
"West Vigo makes you play assignment football. We will have to play our keys all night," Sorrell said.
Sorrell believes the second half of the season sets up nicely for his team.
"We still have a chance to win a lot of football games, but each week will get more difficult," Sorrell said.
Brown County (1-4) vs. Greencastle (3-2)
After starting the season 0-2, Greencastle has looked dominant the last three weeks, putting up points in large numbers and rolling towards first place in the Western Indiana Conference Green Division.
With last week's 49-21 win over Sullivan in the rearview mirror, the Tiger Cubs will take on a Brown County squad that lost to West Vigo, 41-21.
In last week's win, freshman quarterback Cole Stephens tied a school record with six passing touchdowns in a single game, as he was 20-of-24 for 330 yards, while Ian Williamson reeled in three touchdown passes.
Head coach Dave Stephens said the Tiger Cubs are approaching this week's contest the same way as they have every game played thus far.
"We coach to be process focused, not outcome focused. Our process does not change regardless of the opponent," Stephens said.
With this week's game, along with next week's clash against Cloverdale, Stephens is optimistic the Tiger Cubs can get healthy, while continuing to improve.
"We want to make sure that we are peaking at the right time. Physically, we want to take care of our players to keep them fast and athletic. We want to become really efficient with our schemes. We will definitely be looking at building depth the next two weeks," Stephens said.
South Decatur (4-1) vs. Cloverdale (2-3)
Cloverdale steps out of conference play this week as they travel to Decatur County to take on South Decatur.
The Cougars are riding a four game win streak after losing to North Decatur in the opener and knocked off Southside Home School, 55-8 last week.
Earlier this season, South Decatur knocked off Edinburgh, 52-14, while the Clovers picked up a 20-6 win over the Lancers this season.
Cloverdale enters Friday's contest having been shut out the last two weeks and reeling from a 48-0 loss to North Putnam. The Clovers are averaging just under 10 points a contest and allowing 39.4 points per game.
In last week's loss to North Putnam, the Clovers finished with 73 yards on the ground and were 5-of-42 for 50 yards and two interceptions through the air.
