Greencastle Tiger Cubs look to improve, retain Putnam County Bucket

With the high school football regular season approaching the halfway point, Greencastle coach Dave Stephens is optimistic. 

Despite a 1-3 record heading into Friday's Monon Athletic Conference clash against county rival North Putnam, Stephens said the Tiger Cubs are moving in the right direction. 

"I don't know if we are where we thought we would be, but we are moving to where we hoped we would be. Our team's goal every year is to maximize our potential. We are playing two freshmen and a sophomore on our offensive line. We've got freshmen and sophomores sprinkled all around our defense. I feel like the last two weeks, I have seen a lot of growth in our players and they are doing the things they need to do to be successful. Our young guys understand what varsity games are like. I am proud of our kids," Stephens told The Putnam County Post. 

The youth movement is starting to pay off for the Tiger Cubs.

"Our young guys have the benefit where they don't know what they don't know. They are eager to please, eager to be coached and they are battling. It is a lot of information, a lot that goes into playing offensive line. They are starting to understand what we are trying to do," Stephens said. 

Last week, Greencastle fell 49-28 to Western Boone.

Senior quarterback Cole Stephens threw for 356 yards and two touchdowns, while Tayven King had eight catches for 191 yards and a score. Greencastle, however, turned the ball over four times in the loss.

"A year ago, we had a running clock against Western Boone. This year, we were able to get some stops. Our defense played really well, and outside of a few bad breaks in the red zone, it was a competitive game and closer than the score would indicate," Stephens said. 

Stephens hopes that approach carries over for the rest of the regular season.

"I want to continue to see what we have seen the last two weeks from our team. I want to see aggressiveness, that we are being the hammer and not the nail, we are striking first and our kids keep maturing. I want to see our kids control what they can do with a six second mentality, flush bad plays, flush good plays and do their job to the best of their ability," he said. 

And, that includes Friday against a North Putnam team that Stephens has not lost to since becoming the head coach of the Tiger Cubs. 

North Putnam enters at 2-2 overall, 1-1 in the MAC after defeating Crawfordsville 42-14 last week. In the win, the Cougars accounted for 403 yards of offense. Sophomore running back Ashton Hamilton had 156 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Owen Thurman threw for 156 yards. 

Stephens said his team is fully aware of what is at stake this week. 

"We have our keys for the week that we go through. I told our kids, effort and motivation have to be a thing this week. If you are not motivated to go to North Putnam, with the bucket on the line and it's their homecoming, then I don't know if you have a pulse or love this game. Effort and motivation should not be a problem this week. We've played some great games the last few years. Last year, we had a pick at the end of the game to seal it. For our seniors, this is their last opportunity at the bucket. There are no more bucket games after this. Their first game for the bucket, they won it at South Putnam, and now in their last game, they can win it at North Putnam," Stephens said. 

As for the Cougars, Stephens said North Putnam presents challenges for his team.

"Coach Moore always does a good job. His dad, who is a hall of famer, is on the staff. They do things that present challenges, they try hard and they make things difficult. We know we have to have our best effort locked in against them. They are an interesting team because you never know what wrinkle or scheme you may get from them. You have to be ready to expect the unexpected against them. When teams get complicated, you have to stay simple. We have to make sure we don't overcomplicate things. North Putnam wants to run the ball, regardless of what they line up in. That is who they are, and we have to be prepared to try to stop that run game," Stephens said.