Football Preview: Cascade Cadets vs. North Putnam Cougars
The Cascade Cadets will challenge the North Putnam Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are still undefeated after five-games, but that won't be the case come Friday.
Cascade is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Sullivan: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Cascade blew Sullivan out of the water with a 42-6 final score. Considering the Cadets have won four contests by more than 19 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Brady Trebley was nothing short of spectacular: he rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns on only nine carries. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Dayton Mink, who rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Cascade was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 345 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 193 rushing yards in 11 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, North Putnam's offense rose to the challenge against a Clovers defense that boasted an average of only 15.4 points allowed on Friday. North Putnam came out on top against Cloverdale by a score of 37-26. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked 99th, while the Clovers are ranked 237th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Christian Kramer continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 207 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.0 yards per carry, and also throwing for 306 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 11.3 yards per attempt.
North Putnam's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Owen Thurman. He is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last five games he's played dating back to last season.
Cascade pushed their record up to 5-0 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. As for North Putnam, their win bumped their record up to an identical 5-0.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Cascade has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 334.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like North Putnam struggles in that department as they've been averaging 244. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Cascade was able to grind out a solid victory over North Putnam in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, winning 49-39. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Kramer, who rushed for 101 yards and three touchdowns, and also threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns while completing 82.1% of his passes. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Cascade still be able to contain Kramer? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
