ROACHDALE — North Montgomery’s offense overcame an early miscue to give the Chargers the lead early in the second quarter and the defense pitched a shutout the rest of the way in a 22-8 season-opening win over North Putnam.
The Chargers’ (1-0) first offensive play from scrimmage in 2020 resulted in a safety, and on the ensuing possession the Cougars converted a short field into a 4-yard Cam Hankins score to put North Putnam ahead 8-0 late in the first quarter.
And then it was all North Montgomery from that point on.
Quarterback Donavan Haworth found Logan Kelly for a 25-yard touchdown pass at the 59 second mark in the first quarter, and hit Kolton Scrimager on a 47-yard strike the very next possession to put the Chargers ahead 14-8 early in the second quarter.
“I think we needed a little time to get up to game speed,” North Montgomery coach Josh Thompson said. “We gave up that safey and immediately let them drive and score, so kudos to our kids for responding.”
North Putnam (0-1) gained 116 yards in the first half, while the Chargers totaled 113, including 105 through the air.
The second half proved to be a much different story, as North Montgomery held the Cougars to a second half net of 11 yards, and rushed for 118.
Zak Searle put the Chargers up two scores with a 1-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter, and the defense sealed the win with a plethora of second half sacks.
“Defensively with coach Crum calling the defense we changed some things, and I think you are going to see a lot more aggresiveness out of our defense,” Thompson said.
After a balanced attack in the first half, the North Putnam offense was forced to play at a faster pace when trailing over the last 16 minutes, and they were unable to click as a unit. The Cougars failed to reach the red-zone in the second half.
“We have a couple of receivers that don’t have the experience, and then you start going quick and the speed of the game,” first-year Cougars coach Ryan Burress said.
After rushing for 49 yards in the first half, North Putnam (-8 second half rushing yards) failed to break even.
Burress was overall happy with the effort, but realizes how far the Cougars have to go with their conditioning.
“I saw a lot of effort,” he said. “They didn’t quit and they kept battling. I think we realized that we have some conditioning to do. And I’m sure that’s the way with a lot of teams in the state, especially when we have several guys going both ways. But we are going to get there. They know I believe in them, and I really feel like they believe in me, and we will get this turned around.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic spring and more than half of summer workouts were canceled for all high school football programs across the state of Indiana.
It was noticeable in more ways than one throughout the game. The Chargers and Cougars combined for 25 penalties that amassed 183 yards. They also combined for five turnovers.
Haworth led the Chargers with 114 passing yards and two scores, in addition to 72 yards on the ground on 13 carries. Searle added 54 yards on 21 rushes, while Kelly caught four passes for 68 yards and a score.
North Putnam quarterback Gunner Burress connected on 11-of-26 passes for 83 yards in the loss. The junior also led the Cougars with 18 rushing yards, while Robert Greene added 17 yards on two carries.
While both teams expect to see a big jump in improvement from the first week to the second, Thompson is excited to see his team develop after several players got their first varsity game under their belt.
““Some of those younger guys needed that experience,” he said. “Now we have this game under our belt and I think we are going to make leaps and bounds this coming week. We understand what the game speed is now.”
North Montgomery host Hamilton Heights on Friday, while North Putnam travels to Southmont.
North Montgomery 22, North Putnam 8
North Montgomery 6 8 6 0 — 22
North Putnam 8 0 0 0 — 8
Team Stats NM NP
First Downs 15 12
Rush Yards 126 41
Pass Yards 114 83
Total Yards 240 124
Turnovers 3 2
Penalties 13-96 12-87
Individual Stats
Rushing
North Montgomery: Donavan Haworth 13-72, Zak Searle 21-54; Totals 27-126; North Putnam: Gunner Burress 20-18, Robert Green 8-17, Cam Hankins 3-6; Totals 30-41.
Passing
North Montgomery: Haworth 7-15-114-2TD-1INT, Drew Norman 0-2-0-1INT, North Putnam: Burress 11-26-83-1INT
Receiving
North Montgomery: Logan Kelly 4-68, Kolton Scrimager 1-47, Jacob Braun 1-5, Team 1-(-6); Totals 7-114, North Putnam: Greene 3-19, Colton Clifford 3-31, Cody Perkins 2-8, Corbin Sprunger 1-18, Kevom Barger 2-7, Totals 11-83.
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
NP: Safety, 6:58
NP: Cam Hnkins 4-yard rush (conversion failed), 3:55
NM: Logan Kelly 25-yard pass from Donavan Haworth, :59 (conversion good)
2nd Quarter
NM: Kolton Scrimager 47-yard pass from Haworth (conversion failed)
3rd Quarter
NM: Zak Searle 1-yard run (conversion good)
