Putnam County knocks off Brookfield in a battle of unbeatens

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by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com

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The Putnam County Midgets were ranked #6 in Class 1.  The Brookfield Bulldogs were ranked #5 in Class 2.  Both teams were unbeaten coming into their matchup on Friday night.  The winner would be in the driver's seat for the GRC Championship.

Brookfield took the opening kickoff and marched down the field into the red zone.  However, they were stalled at the Midgets' 12-yard line.  Putnam County turned it into an 88-yard drive dominated by the running attack.  Corbin Campbell-Johnson ran it in from 2 yards.  A Matthew Blanchard PAT put Putnam County up 7-0 with 4:54 left in the first quarter.

Brookfield looked like they would tie it up late in the first quarter, but a holding call nullified a touchdown.  They ended up throwing an interception to Brayden Chapman on the 2nd play of the second quarter.  The second quarter was dominated by laundry on the field.  Putnam couldn't get out of their own end because of multiple penalties, and Brookfield has another touchdown called back.  They subsequently fumbled in the end zone, and Putnam's Jacob Jones recovered in the end zone.  The Midgets were unable to capitalize, turning it over on downs at midfield.  The score remained 7-0 at halftime.

Putnam County received the second-half kickoff.  They took six minutes off the clock, and Campbell-Johnson scored his second touchdown from 5 yards out.  A Blanchard PAT made it 14-0 Putnam County.  Brookfield ate up most of the rest of the clock with their own drive.  Coldon Parrent put the Bulldogs on the board with a 4-yard touchdown run.  A great catch by Kameron Perry gave Brookfield 2 more points, making it 14-8 at the end of the third quarter.

On their next drive, Putnam County converted a 4th and 9 when Sawyer Morgan found Campbell-Johnson and set up a 1st and goal. Angstrom Watt would cap off the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.  After two Brookfield penalties on the PAT, the Midgets went for 2 and converted.  They led Brookfield 22-8 with 2:30 left in the game.

Campbell-Johnson intercepted a Phoenix Jordan pass on the next possession.  He would take advantage of the turnover when he scored on a 30-yard touchdown run to make it 29-8 after a Blanchard PAT.  Brookfield would add a touchdown in the closing minute when Jordan scored from 1 yard on a QB keeper.  He found Parrent in the end zone for a conversion making it 29-16 Putnam County.

The Bulldogs recovered the onside kick, but Jordan threw another interception to Campbell-Johnson to ice the game.  Putnam County won 29-16.

Putnam County coach Adam Huse said that their goal is to be physical on offense and defense.  "We've got some pretty good size.  And we play really fast and really physical."  He added, "One of our big things is we talk about focus and finishing.  So we are really big on focusing on controlling the quarterback and not letting him get out."  On offense, the Midgets controlled the ground game.  Coach Huse said, "Our goal is to be the most physical football team and control the line of scrimmage, to be able to play the game that we want to play, and not put ourselves behind the chain."

Putnam County is now 5-0 in the GRC and overall.  They will travel to Polo next week.

Coach Huse talked about next week's game, "Polo is a team that started off really, really hot.  We have to make that long trip down there to them.  They're going to run double-tight foot to foot, be physical.  So, if we can't match that physicality out of the game, we're going to have problems."

Brookfield drops to 3-1 in the GRC and 4-1 overall.  It is Brookfield's first GRC loss since they joined last year.  They will host Gallatin next week.

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