The Sheridan Blackhawks will face off against the South Putnam Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Sheridan sitting on three straight wins and South Putnam on five.
Sheridan is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They walked away with a 14-7 victory over Cloverdale. The score was all tied up 7-7 at the break, but the Blackhawks were the (much) better team in the second half.
The critical scores for Sheridan came from Alex Cravens and Jonathan Barnes.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Sheridan proved: they limited Cloverdale to a paltry 3.2 yards per carry. While two picked up at least 12 total tackles, Braxton Schwerdtfeger stood above the rest. He forced one fumble and made 12 total tackles (1.0 for loss). Sheridan's ground attack was stronger, having averaged five.
Meanwhile, it may have taken overtime to finish the job, but South Putnam ultimately got the result they hoped for on Friday. They came out on top against Riverton Parke by a score of 29-21. The win almost wasn't to be: the Eagles were down 21-7 in the second quarter.
Sheridan better keep an eye on Ty Benton. He was instrumental in South Putnam's win, rushing for 251 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 13.9 yards per carry. That's the most rushing yards Benton has posted since back in August.
Sheridan's record is now 9-2. As for South Putnam, their record now sits at 10-2.
Friday's contest might be decided on the ground. Sheridan has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 248.3 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like South Putnam struggles in that department as they've been averaging 317.9 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's game turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Sheridan took a serious blow against South Putnam in their previous matchup back in November of 2024, falling 60-19. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Benton, who rushed for 326 yards and six scores on only 14 carries. Now that the Blackhawks know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
