The Eagle has Landed: South Putnam wins Class A state title

For 371 days, South Putnam head football coach Chuck Sorrell sat in disappointment. 

On November 22, 2024, the Eagles made the trip down to Providence and fell to the eventual state champ, 35-30. That loss not only bothered Sorrell, it provided plenty of motivation through the offseason and throughout the 2025 campaign.

All the negative feelings were erased Friday morning, as South Putnam captured the Class A state championship, defeating Pioneer, 55-29 at Lucas Oil Stadium. For the Eagles, the championship was the first in 39 years, and for Sorrell, it helped validate everything he had talked about over the last seven seasons. 

"It feels great. We haven't changed what we did. We want to be bigger, faster, stronger, and that is what we have done for seven years. We ran into some good football teams over those seven years, but, finally, we are the best football team in Class A and we proved it," Sorrell told The Putnam County Post. 

The victory could be attributed to the fact that everyone associated with South Putnam -- player, coach and community member -- bought in.

"These guys have never wavered. They all bought in, and the community bought in. We've got everyone from Reelesville, Belle Union and Putnamville here. Everybody knew we had a chance, and that is a good Pioneer football team. It took everything we had to beat them," Sorrell said. 

Early on, it looked tough for South Putnam (13-2), as Pioneer took the opening kickoff and chewed up half of the first quarter with a feared rushing attack. The Panthers (13-2) found paydirt thanks to an illegal substitution penalty against the Eagles on fourth and one. With a new set of downs, Pioneer quarterback Micah Rans hit the end zone from a yard out, capping a 15-play, 73-yard drive to put the Panthers in front 7-0. 

"We had too many guys on the field and that hurt us. That is a coaching thing, and we had to fix it. A couple coaches got yelled at. I yelled at myself, but players have to run off. Other than that, I thought we were pretty sharp," Sorrell said. 

The lead would be short lived, as South Putnam responded with a huge return from Bransyn Ensor, and one play later, quarterback Drew Cline hit a streaking Blake Witt, who reeled in a 59 yard pass to knot the game at 7-7. 

The two teams would trade scores once again in the first half.

Noah Vanmeter would score from a yard out, pushing Pioneer back in front. However, again, the lead would be short lived, as Cline hit Ensor in traffic in the end zone to knot the game at 14-14 heading into the locker room. 

"We only had 30 yards rushing in the first half, and I told them at the half, if we were going to win this game, we had to run the ball. We gave the ball to Ty and Brier and they drove right down the field. Obviously, we made plays in the passing game, but to win this game, we had to play good defense and run the ball. Our varsity defense gave up 7 points in the second half, and that is the first seven points we have given up in the second half in the last six weeks," Sorrell said.

And, run the ball, they did. 

South Putnam opened the third quarter with a heavy dose of running back Ty Benton, who was off to the races, opening the frame with a 39 yard run and then finding a seam and going in from 15 yards out to put South Putnam ahead 21-14. 

Moments later, the South Putnam defense would get into the act, as Phillip McFatridge fumbled a handoff and Khalil Jefferson was there to collect, scooping up the loose football and rumbling 32 yards into the end zone, pushing the South Putnam advantage to 28-14 three minutes into the second half. 

A pass interference call against Pioneer would be deadly minutes later, as South Putnam used the new set of downs to extend the lead to 34-14 after a one yard plunge from Keenan Mowery-Shields. 

"Our defense makes stops and our offense is going to stop. We did it again. We got stops, gave the ball to our offense and we won the football game," Sorrell said.

Despite being behind, Pioneer refused to go away quietly, as Vanmeter scored from 33 yards out, trimming the deficit to 34-21. 

It didn't matter as the Eagles got scores from Brier Cook, Witt and Hayden Tincher to ice the game. 

"It is huge for this community, and our school. Our school has been begging for a winner, and now they have a state championship winner. These 58 young men are forever going to remember this. We tried to get everybody on the field, and whatever they tell their kids, they can tell them they are a state champion," Sorrell said. 

And, for Sorrell, the win was exactly what he needed, as his smile told the story. 

"I have never wavered. When I was a young kid at Brownsburg, our goal every year was to win a state championship, and Cathedral beat us every year. When I was coaching all those years at South Vermillion and different schools, state champions beat us. Finally, it was time for us to win a state championship, and we did everything we could. Whatever the score is, we are just happy to be winners," Sorrell said.