Cloverdale is 1-9 against North Putnam since September of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Cloverdale Clovers will head out to take on the North Putnam Cougars at 7:00 p.m. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Cloverdale is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Crimson Knights: they outscored them in every quarter. Cloverdale's defense stepped up to hand Crimson Knights a 71-0 shutout on Friday. The Clovers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three matches by 36 points or more this season.
A big part of the victory came down to the chemistry between Landon Duncan and his top target Tayt Jackson. Duncan threw for 99 yards and three touchdowns while completing 83.3% of his passes while Jackson gained 105 total yards and three touchdowns. Duncan is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Cloverdale was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 272 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask North Putnam). They blew past Crawfordsville 57-21 at home on Friday. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked 89th, while the Athenians are ranked 234th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Christian Kramer was his usual excellent self, rushing for 120 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.5 yards per carry, and also throwing for 246 yards and a touchdown while completing 81% of his passes. He also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, picking up a sack and making a tackle.
The win was the third in a row for Cloverdale, bringing their record for this year to 3-1. As for North Putnam, the victory for them keeps them at an undefeated 4-0.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the trenches. Cloverdale has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 218 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like North Putnam struggles in that department as they've been averaging 246. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Cloverdale was dealt a bruising 48-0 loss at the hands of North Putnam in their previous matchup back in September of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Kramer, who threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 139 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries. Now that Cloverdale knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
