Putnam County has struggled to close out games this year and again couldn’t do so last Friday against Jasper County in its regular-season finale.
After trailing the Hurricanes 14-7 at the half, the War Eagles were outscored 14-3 in the final two quarters, losing 28-10.
Putnam County head coach Joel Harvin said his team didn’t execute its game plan in the second half.
“I think that’s been our story the whole year,” Harvin said. “You go into halftime trying to make adjustments, and you have to come out and execute the plays. All week long, we had a plan for the second half. We practiced it, but we didn’t execute very well by sticking it in the end zone when we had the opportunity.”
Jasper County’s rushing attack, led by junior back Tyren Epps, took over in the second half. Epps rushed for four touchdowns and 133 yards on 13 carries. He, along with fellow junior back Chance Ross and quarterback JaMarkus Thomas, made plays when needed. Thomas also completed 7 of 10 passes for 56 yards.
The Hurricanes dominated time of possession by running the ball effectively, as Putnam County couldn’t stop them. They finished with 341 rushing yards on 44 carries, averaging an impressive 7.8 yards per attempt.
The Jasper County defense also stood tall. The Hurricanes played well all game, especially in the last two quarters.
When the War Eagles trailed by two scores midway through the third quarter, they had to throw much more than usual without starting quarterback Ethan Whatley for a third straight game.
Backup Branan Griffin was a bright spot for the offense, completing 13 of 17 passes for 121 yards, and adding 78 yards and 11 carries on the ground. However, Putnam County still came up short several times, as Jasper County’s defense got some much-needed stops.
The War Eagles were also without their second leading receiver, Jayson Smith, who is dealing with an injury.
Still, Harvin didn’t make excuses.
“We thought we could throw the ball a little better than we did, and we had some matchups we liked, but we just didn’t execute,” he said. “It’s just collectively, we didn’t execute well, and it’s tough when you’re behind a team with a strong running game. It’s just that we’re not a team that throws first, but when you’re forced to throw, it creates matchup issues. We thought we had a good matchup, but we just didn’t execute.”
Harvin credited Jasper County head coach Ashley Henderson, who made several calls during the game that caught the War Eagles off guard, especially in the first half.
“Those guys had a good game plan and had one that was ready for us,” Harvin said. “They faked a punt, and we jumped offsides on another 4th-and-short. They ended up scoring two touchdowns off of that, so that was the difference in the game. It takes a lot of guts to call those fake punts and similar plays, those fourth-down tricks, and man, they did it. We just couldn’t match them score for score, and just came up a little short.”
Putnam County has a bye for the final Friday of the regular season. The War Eagles now wait to learn their state playoff seeding and first-round opponent, as the brackets will be released later this week.