Cougars roll into Sectional 38 semi-final playing well

Fresh off his first sectional victory as head coach of the North Putnam Cougars, football coach Scott Moore enters this week looking for more success and another victory as his team travels to Monrovia in the Class 2A Sectional 38 semi-final. 

Last week, the Cougars defeated West Vigo, 42-9, improving to 7-3, giving Moore his 25th career win, and securing the first sectional win since 2020. The seven victories are the most since the 2024 campaign for the Cougars and come as no surprise to Moore. 

"We knew we could compete with this group even though the conference and non conference schedule is tough. We needed the players to believe in themselves and buy into the process of getting better each day. We have a great group of seniors that were ready to prove themselves and are very excited about our underclassmen that have stepped in and continued to get better. This group is as tight knit as any I’ve coached and they understand that only their best effort and attitude will give them a chance to win football games and that it takes all 11 each play to be successful. It took a few weeks and we played some very good teams early but we were able to develop into the team-we have been the last two months and it has been a fun process. Our players are completely bought into the standard of operation and how we want to go about our day to day. We know that we always have room to improve and can never be satisfied," Moore told The Putnam County Post. 

After opening the season 1-2 with losses to defending Class A state champ South Putnam and defending Class 3A champ Cascade sandwiched around a win over Putnam County rival Cloverdale, North Putnam got hot, winning four in a row and five of its last six games. 

"We have felt no pressure this season, we talk about how no one thought we would be relevant this year after losing such a big senior class, but have stayed hungry and humble and all of our guys are team first players. It has been a fun season to coach," Moore said.

Senior quarterback Owen Thurman has been leading the team and has emerged as a leader for Moore's Cougars. 

Over 10 games, Thurman has tossed for 1,536 yards and 12 touchdowns, while also adding 861 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground for the Cougars. 

Sophomore Ashton Hamilton has rushed for over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns. Junior Sam Wendt has reeled in 33 catches for 535 yards and five touchdowns, while senior Noah McConnell has added 428 receiving yards and two touchdowns. 

Over the last 10 weeks, Moore said he has been pleased with the leadership from his seniors and how the younger players have stepped up significantly. 

"Everyone competes in practice and plays with heart and passion. We want practice reps to be game speed reps so that we can continue to improve and the team as a whole has done a great job with that," he said.

The seniors' leadership and the underclassmen's efforts will be needed this Friday, as the Cougars travel to Monrovia (4-6). The Bulldogs defeated Southmont 13-10 in the sectional opener last week. 

Senior Michael Terrell has thrown for almost 1,400 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Ryder Bain and Coewen Stinson have combined for 17 touchdowns and 1,382 rushing yards. Defensively, Andy Olson's team has been paced by Gauge Tolen, who has 118 tackles and Gannon Prosser, who has four interceptions, two fumble recoveries, seven pass deflections and a forced fumble on the season. 

Moore said the Bulldogs are a formidable opponent for his Cougars. 

"Monrovia is an established program and they have a lot of great players and are well coached. They run a good offense and we will have to be locked in on our keys and play physical football. They fly around on defense and play hard so we will have to be at our best in order to come out with a win on Friday. We are going to continue to operate like we have all season and use each rep to get better and by the end of the week know that we have done everything we can to put ourselves in a position to win a football game Friday night," Moore said.