Cloverdale ready for season, Greencastle challenge

Fresh off the most wins since 1996, the Cloverdale football team is ready for the 2026 season, which kicks off Friday against county rival Greencastle. 

The last time the two teams played, Cloverdale secured a 26-21 victory over Greencastle in 2024. After not playing last season, the two will renew the rivalry Friday at Cloverdale with a 7 p.m. kickoff. 

"We have a list of things we want to try and accomplish this year. One of those things is to win the bucket. We know Greencastle has the bucket right now for baseball season, so it would mean a lot if we could start the year off getting the bucket," Cloverdale coach Tyler Lotz told The Putnam County Post. 

For Cloverdale, facing the Tiger Cubs offers an opportunity to apply the work done over the summer. 

"It has been great. We are finally happy it is here. We had a good summer, and we are excited to finally pad up against someone else," Lotz said.

The Clovers enjoyed a ramped up offseason that has picked up quite a bit over the last month, leaving Lotz "excited" heading into the Greencastle contest. 

After seeing the Tiger Cubs last week in the Putnam County Jamboree, Lotz knows his team will see a heavy dose of Greencastle quarterback Cole Stephens. 

"They showed us what we expected. Cole is a really good quarterback, and they will throw the ball around. We are going to try to limit explosive plays. Defensively, they run a 3-4 front, and that is a little different from past seasons. We are excited," Lotz said. 

Cloverdale is looking to open the season 1-0 for the first time since 2014. 

"We are excited to play Greencastle. I know they are excited to have us back on the schedule. We remember what happened last time, but that doesn't help us this time. It is a whole new year, and a whole new team. We really have to earn it and come out ready to play. It would be huge to start 1-0 and obtain the bucket," Lotz said. 

Leading the offense this season will be quarterback Marcus Boyd. 

"He's had a really good summer, and we are excited to see where he is at," Lotz said. 

The fifth year coach said the Clovers will also lean heavily on two way starter Jace Gardner, who is also a captain, along with T.J. Hamilton, Ashton Evans and Trey Schabel. 

"We have to take care of the football, first and foremost. We have to be able to run the football, and we have to make them miss more tackles than we miss. We have to be good tacklers in space and stop explosives," Lotz said.