Greencastle looks to return to winning ways

While the record may not be what he hoped for through five weeks, Greencastle head football coach Dave Stephens knows there are still opportunities to get wins before the Class 2A sectional tournament rolls around. 

The question facing the Tiger Cubs, however, is what direction Greencastle will go in down the stretch, according to the fourth year coach. 

"I know we are on a precipice of how we want this season to go. We have some guys that have to make decisions on how they want the rest of the year to go. We have some winnable games in front of us, and we have to decide are we going to do the things that we know we have to do. Are we going to stay locked in and not do the easy thing. We have to be, as a group, bought in for four quarters and give our team a chance. I felt like we had a good team meeting Saturday and a good team meeting and walkthrough on Monday. All the ships are sailing in the same direction and now it is time to do the work. We will see if our actions match our words," Stephens told The Putnam County Post. 

The Tiger Cubs find themselves at 1-4 overall, following a 56-28 loss to North Putnam last week. 

In the loss, Greencastle's defense allowed over 500 yards of offense to North Putnam, as quarterback Owen Thurman scored seven touchdowns for the Cougars. 

Greencastle quarterback Cole Stephens was 24-of-32 for 246 yards and two touchdowns through the air, and he added 131 yards and two scampers into the end zone on the ground. 

Stephens said it was an odd start to the game last week that put his team behind. 

" I felt like our guys got in a rough situation there. We got into a weather delay. We understood there was lightning in the area and that we would have a delay. After we were told there would be a delay, there was no delay. Things got off to a slow, discombobulated start and we never found our rhythm. There were times we had the ball in the first and second half, but the big moment was they score with 28 seconds left in the first half. We have a good kicker and three timeouts and we wanted to see if we could get down. That swing cemented the game," Stephens said. 

This week, Greencastle will look to get back to its winning ways, hosting North Montgomery (1-4) for a Homecoming clash. 

Stephens said it will be nice to see people come back home and be part of the crowd, as well as the pageantry associated with Homecoming. 

"We have some of our players nominated for king and prince. You'll have people in their tuxedos and dresses, and then we'll have some sweaty football players trying to be part of it, too. It is classic Americana and high school ball. It is a great thing," Stephens said. 

Standing in the way of a Greencastle win is a North Montgomery squad that Stephens considers "underrated." North Montgomery fell to Western Boone last week, 45-32. 

"They are an underrated opponent. It should be a good game for everyone to come out to watch. They are a lot better than their record indicates. They lost to Western Boone by a score. They were up against Twin Lakes. They can pass the ball and run the ball. They are 50-50. Our defense is going to have their work cut out for them. We have to play assignment football, play to their formations and tempo. They have a running back who was a preseason candidate for Monon Offensive Playerof-the-Year. We have a lot of challenges, but we feel like there are some things we can do. If our defense can get some stops and our offense run efficiently, we have a chance," Stephens said. 

As for what it will take to post a win, Stephens said it will come down to two things. 

"Toughness and discipline. Do your job to the best of your ability for six seconds and do it again and again. The team that does its job better is going to come out and win the game," Stephens said.