South Putnam looks to continue toward new goal

Heading into last week's matchup with Northview, South Putnam head football coach Chuck Sorrell believed that if his starting defense could hold the Knights scoreless, they truly were a "special team."

His team truly is a "special team," as the starting defense held Northview to 112 total yards and zero points en route to a 45-7 win. The win improved the Eagles to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the Western Indiana Conference, giving Sorrell's team at least a share of a conference title heading into Friday's matchup with Owen Valley (4-3). 

"We are pretty special. There are coaches trying to find our weaknesses and planning how they are going to score on us, but our kids on defense have gelled so much. Now, we have a new goal and it is a goal we never thought we'd have. I've never been around a team that held teams scoreless in the first half of every game, but we have an opportunity to do that the next two weeks if we can continue to do what we do. I would imagine that would be some kind of record, but it is a really good feat. It is all 11 of those guys playing together and doing everything they have been coached to do these last few years," Sorrell told The Putnam County Post. 

South Putnam opened the game by harassing Northview quarterback Cooper Schimmel with its defense and recorded a safety to give the Eagles a quick 2-0 lead. 

"They were sliding protection towards Keenan (Mowery-Shields), which I would do too and left Damon (Cox) open. Damon got around his tackle and we got two good sacks in a row. Those are big plays by our seniors early in the game, and we got the safety. Our defense scored for the seventh straight week," Sorrell said. 

Sorrell admitted it was important for his team to set the tone early. 

"It is always important. When they took the ball, I kind of smirked because I knew what Coach Reitz was trying to do in getting a lead early. It made me kind of feel like he couldn't stop our offense. It is hard to stop. They bottled Ty up for a yard or two and then he broke loose and our passing game was on. If a team is taking the ball, you know they feel they were have a hard time stopping our offense. We got a good start, got some good stops and that set the tone. We get up two scores, not a lot of teams I think can come back on us, especially with how well we are playing defense," Sorrell said. 

Sorrell also said he was pleased with how well his defense adapted to the game plan last week. 

"We had a game plan, and when they got a few yards on us, they responded. I went back and looked, and while Coach Raetz has been there, Northview has never been running clocked and they have played Roncalli, Chatard and some really good teams. We forced them into some turnovers, and that is uncharacteristic. We forced them to throw more than they run. Our defense's ability to force coaches out of their comfort zone is a good sign. Right now, our defense is senior led with eight seniors, but the three juniors are playing really well," Sorrell said. 

South Putnam received solid performances from Ty Benton and Blake Witt in the win over Northview. 

Benton rushed 23 times for 189 yards and four touchdowns, while Witt had two interceptions, converted a two point conversion and caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Drew Cline. 

"Blake never comes off the field. He was our MVP last year. He holds every extra point. He runs in the two point conversions when we run our single wing stuff. He caught a big touchdown pass that put us up three scores. He had two interceptions. He is able to do everything we ask him to do, and he is always in the right place. Right now, he is playing senior level football and playing like a captain," Sorrell said of his senior playmaker. 

Next up for the Eagles is a date with a familiar face in Owen Valley, who is coached by former South Putnam athletic director Troy Burgess. The Patriots knocked off West Vigo 19-14 last week. 

"Coach Burgess is going to find ways to keep his team in ballgames. He has 120 wins for a reason. He knows how to win games. At the end of the day, all of us will say it doesn't matter what the score is as long as you get the win. He has four of them. Coming into the season, he was really trying to get three, and now he has an opportunity to get another. They are getting some confidence. Troy is going to throw 72 formations at us, and we need to make sure we are lined up and not outflanked. Defensively, they are going to give us a 4-4 man coverage, and we need to make them pay for playing us in man coverage. Our goal is to win this week and win the WIC outright," Sorrell said. 

Winning the conference outright would mean a lot to the program, according to Sorrell.

"Our goal was to win a championship. The first was the Putnam County championship. The second was the WIC championship. The third was to be undefeated, and we have a chance to do that, which no South Putnam team has ever done. We were 12-0 a few years ago. We have an opportunity to do some stuff that has never been done at our school. The new standard is to get to 14. We would love to get to 15. There are a lot of goals. Let's get this WIC championship. Let's finish off where we ended last year. If we give up a score, it's not the end of the world. It's football, and we have to continue to get better," Sorrell said. 

South Putnam is the top ranked team in Class 2A in the Indiana Football Coaches Association Poll.  While his team continues to improve, Sorrell admitted he must improve as well. 

"I was trying to avoid that at all costs. We have the target on our backs for the rest of the season. We have a lot of challenges coming up, but the new goal is nobody scores in the first half on us the next two weeks.