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Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

Putnam holds off Central

Putnam County finished the way it started Thursday night at Henderson Stadium.

The War Eagles (8-2, 6-1 GHSA Region 4-AA) had only two offensive drives of significance against Central (3-7, 3-4), but those drives resulted in points and provided the bookends of a 13-7 overtime win.

Sophomore Marteze Waller scored on a 3-yard touchdown run in overtime to win the game.

The win guarantees Putnam County at least a tie for the region championship. The War Eagles can win the region outright with a Greene County win over Northeast tonight.

Central is eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.

“I’m just proud of the way our guys fought,” Putnam County head coach Ben Reaves said. “It wasn’t pretty, but we just hung in there and made plays when we needed to.”

In between their two touchdowns, the War Eagles played opportunistic defense. They intercepted Central quarterback Devon Thames four times. They also came up with two sacks when it looked like the Chargers were in position to score the game-winning points at the end of regulation.

Following a bad snap and a short punt, Central got the ball at the Putnam 41-yard line with 4:36 to play with the score tied at 7.

The Chargers moved into the red zone on a facemask penalty and eventually got to the 17-yard line following a first down. Central had first-and-5 at the 12 following an offsides penalty. Two runs got the Chargers to the 10 with 41 seconds to play in the game. But Putnam County came up with sacks on the next two plays as Thames didn’t get off a throw, and the War Eagles took over with eight seconds left in regulation.

“We’ve gone through four kickers this year,” Central head coach Anthony Hines said. “I wanted to kick it, but we got sacked. I didn’t feel good about a field goal, but I probably should have kicked it, looking back.”

Thames threw an interception in the end zone of the second play of overtime. It didn’t take long for Putnam County to take advantage as Waller scored on the War Eagles’ second overtime play to win the game.

“I proud that we took advantage of our opportunities,” Reaves said. “We didn’t play our best.”

Putnam County cruised down the field on its first possession of the game. The War Eagles went 92 yards on eight plays to score on a 6-yard pass from Nick Burke to Devontae Pennamon.

But the War Eagles’ offense went silent after that. They picked up three first downs during the next three quarters. Putnam County picked up a first down on the second play from scrimmage in the second half, but didn’t get another until overtime.

“Our defense played a great ballgame,” Hines said. “The offense didn’t.”

Central did come up with its only points on a 5-yard touchdown run by Desmond Phillips with a minute left in the third quarter. The play was set up by a 50-yard double pass from Thames to Kelcey Butts to Emanuel Carter.

The Chargers turned the ball over twice in the red zone and had two other drives stall out on downs after getting inside the 25-yard line.