When explaining his love for the game of high school football, South Putnam Senior Adam Masters admits he's not quite used to the situation the Eagles are currently in.
"I've been making friends and have been making big hits playing football," said Masters with a big grin on his face. "I've been starting since a freshman, and I've seen a lot of classes be done that first game of the season. It was real nice not to have to say goodbye to the seniors this time since it's me."
The Eagles advance to the second round of sectionals for the first time since 2005 this Friday night, when they travel to Monrovia for the Indy Sports Nation Feature Game Of The Week.
South Putnam (8-2) almost found themselves with an early first round exit for the fourth year in a row last week against South Vermillion. Down 22-12 heading into the fourth quarter, the Eagles rallied back behind a huge performance from Senior running back Drew Cash, who finished the night with 212 yards on 34 carries for four touchdowns.
Check Out Jeremiah Johnson's Football Friday Rewind From Round One Of Sectionals
"We were able to keep our composure, battle back, and do the things we were supposed to do" said Head Coach Troy Burgess. "So anytime you can come back and win a game from behind, I think there are a lot of good learning tools from that."
Cash, who has rushed for over 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns, is one of fifteen seniors on this squad who was helped the Eagles improve from 1-9 his freshman year to 8-2 in the present. But despite his impact on the field, he believes it's the strong group of seniors as a whole who have changed the mentality of the South Putnam program to one that wins.
"I think we have great leadership from all the seniors," said Cash. "We don't pick on any of the younger kids. We pick them up, we don't say anything bad about them, we try to motivate everybody to play. That's why our scout teams really go hard for us, and gives us the good looks we need."
Check Out The Football Friday Night Game Plan For Round Two Of Sectionals
To be successful in Friday night's match-up against Monrovia, the Eagles are going to be needing more than just good looks from their junior varsity members. They will need to get past the mental block of already losing to this Bulldogs team one time already in the season, back on October 9th in a 34-0 loss.
"We went in there a little intimidated I feel," said Eagles Senior Adam Masters. "This Friday though, we will be ready for them."
Monrovia (10-0) is entering Friday night's match-up with as much momentum as they could have ever hoped for. The Bulldogs continued their undefeated season last week by defeating Cloverdale 53-0, their school record seventh shut-out of the season.
Vote For The McAlister's Big Nasty Hit Of The Week
"We're mean, we're vicious," said Monrovia Senior Kyle Everett when asked to explain what makes this defense so good. "We're like an iron curtain, we haven't let anyone do anything all season long."
The defense has only allowed 21 points throughout the entire season, but the offense hasn't been too shabby either. On the other side of the ball the Bulldogs have put up a total of 421 points, a lot of them due to the play of y Senior Austin Parks, who broke the school's rushing record for yards in a career last Friday.
"There's not a nicer kid around than Austin Parks," said Monrovia Head Coach Keith Hutchins. "He's a good example of somebody that does a lot of the right things. But on the field he's a great athlete, a shifty runner that does a lot of things that you know, you can't teach. It's not coach-able, it's natural."
Though his Bulldogs took the victory over South Putnam in their first match-up of the season, Hutchins knows the Eagles aren't going to just lay down with both team's seasons on the line.
"There are some great examples of that," said Hutchins on if he thinks South Putnam will better prepared for the second game against his squad. "Not only this year, but in the past of teams that have beaten teams by a pretty substantial margin during the regular season, but have ended up losing in the sectional. This is definitely a great opportunity to bring those things up. We've gone over that numerous times with the guys, and they realize this is a fresh season, that every one starts out 0-0."
The Indy Sports Nation Feature Game of The Week takes place this Friday at Monrovia High School at 7:00 p.m. Full highlights of the game can be viewed on "Football Friday Night" on Fox 59 at 10:35, while full coverage of the game can be found immediately after on Indysportsnation.com.
"I've been making friends and have been making big hits playing football," said Masters with a big grin on his face. "I've been starting since a freshman, and I've seen a lot of classes be done that first game of the season. It was real nice not to have to say goodbye to the seniors this time since it's me."
The Eagles advance to the second round of sectionals for the first time since 2005 this Friday night, when they travel to Monrovia for the Indy Sports Nation Feature Game Of The Week.
South Putnam (8-2) almost found themselves with an early first round exit for the fourth year in a row last week against South Vermillion. Down 22-12 heading into the fourth quarter, the Eagles rallied back behind a huge performance from Senior running back Drew Cash, who finished the night with 212 yards on 34 carries for four touchdowns.
Check Out Jeremiah Johnson's Football Friday Rewind From Round One Of Sectionals
"We were able to keep our composure, battle back, and do the things we were supposed to do" said Head Coach Troy Burgess. "So anytime you can come back and win a game from behind, I think there are a lot of good learning tools from that."
Cash, who has rushed for over 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns, is one of fifteen seniors on this squad who was helped the Eagles improve from 1-9 his freshman year to 8-2 in the present. But despite his impact on the field, he believes it's the strong group of seniors as a whole who have changed the mentality of the South Putnam program to one that wins.
"I think we have great leadership from all the seniors," said Cash. "We don't pick on any of the younger kids. We pick them up, we don't say anything bad about them, we try to motivate everybody to play. That's why our scout teams really go hard for us, and gives us the good looks we need."
Check Out The Football Friday Night Game Plan For Round Two Of Sectionals
To be successful in Friday night's match-up against Monrovia, the Eagles are going to be needing more than just good looks from their junior varsity members. They will need to get past the mental block of already losing to this Bulldogs team one time already in the season, back on October 9th in a 34-0 loss.
"We went in there a little intimidated I feel," said Eagles Senior Adam Masters. "This Friday though, we will be ready for them."
Monrovia (10-0) is entering Friday night's match-up with as much momentum as they could have ever hoped for. The Bulldogs continued their undefeated season last week by defeating Cloverdale 53-0, their school record seventh shut-out of the season.
Vote For The McAlister's Big Nasty Hit Of The Week
"We're mean, we're vicious," said Monrovia Senior Kyle Everett when asked to explain what makes this defense so good. "We're like an iron curtain, we haven't let anyone do anything all season long."
The defense has only allowed 21 points throughout the entire season, but the offense hasn't been too shabby either. On the other side of the ball the Bulldogs have put up a total of 421 points, a lot of them due to the play of y Senior Austin Parks, who broke the school's rushing record for yards in a career last Friday.
"There's not a nicer kid around than Austin Parks," said Monrovia Head Coach Keith Hutchins. "He's a good example of somebody that does a lot of the right things. But on the field he's a great athlete, a shifty runner that does a lot of things that you know, you can't teach. It's not coach-able, it's natural."
Though his Bulldogs took the victory over South Putnam in their first match-up of the season, Hutchins knows the Eagles aren't going to just lay down with both team's seasons on the line.
"There are some great examples of that," said Hutchins on if he thinks South Putnam will better prepared for the second game against his squad. "Not only this year, but in the past of teams that have beaten teams by a pretty substantial margin during the regular season, but have ended up losing in the sectional. This is definitely a great opportunity to bring those things up. We've gone over that numerous times with the guys, and they realize this is a fresh season, that every one starts out 0-0."
The Indy Sports Nation Feature Game of The Week takes place this Friday at Monrovia High School at 7:00 p.m. Full highlights of the game can be viewed on "Football Friday Night" on Fox 59 at 10:35, while full coverage of the game can be found immediately after on Indysportsnation.com.
