South Putnam cruises to Semi-State

Another week.

Another highly anticipated matchup.

Another South Putnam blowout victory.

Such has been the way of life for Chuck Sorrell's top ranked Eagles this football season.

Whether it was Northview, Cascade, Monrovia or in this case Eastern Hancock, the result was the same: a massive victory for the state's top team in Class 2A. 

When the dust settled, South Putnam picked up a 50-13 win, punching its ticket to a semi-state road date with Brownstown Central on Nov. 20. Brownstown Central (13-0) defeated North Posey, 63-28, to capture a regional. Reed May's team lost to Andrean in the Class 2A title game a year ago. 

Heading into Friday's Class 2A regional, Eastern Hancock possessed an offense that averaged close to 50 points per game and a defense that was just as dominant. 

However, all that changed in the blink of an eye after a few offensive possessions against South Putnam, which leads the state in offense at 55.2 points and whose starting defense that has given up points only to Cascade and Monrovia this season. 

On its first offensive possession, Eastern Hancock quarterback Matt Hunt got the Royals moving before South Putnam's Drew Cline intercepted a Hunt pass. 

One play later, Ty Benton raced 22 yards into the end zone, giving South Putnam a 6-0 lead after Aden Beasley's point-after-attempt failed. 

Minutes later, Cline gave the South Putnam faithful more to cheer about by scoring from five yards out and then 18 yards out, putting the Eagles ahead 21-0. 

Eastern Hancock, on the other hand, struggled to move the ball against the South Putnam defense after Hunt exited with a leg injury. From that point on, it was all Eagles, as Benton rumbled in again from 65 yards out and Cline hit Bransyn Ensor for a 35-yard strike to put the Eagles in front 34-0 with just under three minutes left in the half. 

A 25-yard field goal from Beasley put the Eagles ahead 37-0 at the half, prompting a running clock for the second half. 

The halftime break did little to cool the South Putnam rushing attack in the second half, as Benton hit paydirt from 24 yards out, and Brier Cook scored from two yards out to stretch the lead to 50-0.

Eastern Hancock tacked on two touchdowns in the final minutes.