by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com
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The South Harrison Bulldogs were coming off a big win over Milan in Week 1, which earned them the Green Hills Insurance LLC Team of the Week honors. They were attempting to go 2-0 for the first time since 2019 with a trip to Putnam County.
The Bulldogs were able to control the game from the opening kickoff to knockoff the Midgets 41-7. South Harrison was led by Crae Coffey, who scored three touchdowns. The Bulldogs were close to midfield on the opening drive, facing 4th and 8. They were able to convert, which led to Coffey's first touchdown, a seven-yard run with 5:34 left in the 1st. Jett Cornett added the PAT to put South Harrison up 7-0. Putnam County had to punt on their opening drive, and the score was 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Regarding the early 4th down, South Harrison coach Chris Schoning said, "I thought tonight things didn't go our way, and we were digging ourselves a hole. We were able to get ourselves out of that hole. That's the one thing with these guys; they don't give up. They stay with the plays. They run the plays. They do a pretty good job."
The Bulldogs scored again with just over 10 minutes left. They drove to the one-yard line, but a false start penalty pushed them back to the six. That is when Brysan Quinley found Cooper Johnson in the end zone. Another Cornett PAT made in 14-0. Both teams turned it over on downs before Putnam had to punt again with 2:39 left in the half. Coffey took advantage of this with another touchdown with 14.0 seconds left in the half. A Cornett PAT made it 21-0. That was the score at halftime, but not before South Harrison had one last attempt. Putnam County fumbled with 0.6 seconds left at midfield. A successful pass attempt yielded some yards but not enough for a score.
The Midgets got on the board in the third quarter when Gideon Jones kept it for a quarterback keeper from the one-inch line. Matthew Blanchard added a PAT to cut the South Harrison lead to 21-7. South Harrison then turned it over on downs, and it looked like we might have a ballgame, but Putnam went 3 and out. The quarter ended with South Harrison leading 21-7.
Crae Coffey scored his third and final touchdown with 10:19 left in the game. South Harrison extended their lead to 28-7 after a Cornett PAT. Schoning talked about Coffey after the game. He said, "he gets those tough yards for us. That kid is very tough to tackle. He is 6' 1" and weighs 205. He keeps his feet moving. If it's 3rd and 2, 4th and 1, that's the guy we go to. And everyone in the conference is going to know it, but we're still going to do it. He's probably still going to get those yards. Having that in your back pocket when you need those tough yards, it's awesome having a kid like that."
Putnam County was putting together a long drive on their next possession. They had the ball at the Bulldogs 10-yard line, but Quinley was intercepted by Mason Galloway, who returned the ball to the Midget 19-yard line. Galloway ran the ball in from the 5-yard line a few plays later. Cornett connected again on the PAT to make it 35-7 with 5:18 left in the game.
Schoning said that Galloway "has been a huge player for us this year. He got a little playing time last year as a sophomore. I told him this summer, Mason, you are going to have to step up for us this year because Crae Coffey can't do it all by himself. That was a huge stop. They had a ton of momentum. He's been playing great defense for us and been giving us great offense, too."
South Harrison would score their last touchdown on the next Putnam County possession when Cornett intercepted Quinley and returned it to the end zone for a pick-six. This time, Jones blocked Cornett's PAT. The final score was South Harrison 41, Putnam County 7.
After the game, Schoning acknowledged Putnam County's efforts, saying, "Putnam County put up a good fight. We had to earn everything we got tonight. We didn't execute nearly as well as we did against Milan." The players also recognized the need for better execution in their post-game discussion. Schoning added, "I am glad my team is seeing that. I am having a lot of leaders step up, and that is awesome."
South Harrison's 2-0 record will be on the line next week when they travel on the road to face another 2-0 team at Marceline. Marceline is ranked #5 in Class 1.
Schoning said, "It's awesome to win. Everyone loves to win. I think with this group, they know we have a lot we can fix, and the ceiling is much higher for us right now. We just got to get to practice next week and execute. We had an okay week of practices last week, and that showed tonight. We preach that. We are going to practice how we play. That's going to be our challenge next week. We played how we practiced last week. Let's fix that next week and have a good week of practice."
Putnam County is 0-2 and will travel to Trenton next week. Trenton is coming off a loss to Polo and is also 0-2.
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