Putnam County opened 2022 region play with a massive home victory over Butler this past Friday. The War Eagles (3-1, 1-0 Region 4-AA) pounded the Bulldogs 44-0 at Al Reaves Field.
“We cleaned up some things, but honestly, we’ve still got to get better. There are still a lot of things we’ve got to improve on,” Putnam County head coach Shaun Pope said. “I thought we played a much cleaner game. We rushed for right at 300 yards, and we threw for about 60 yards. We controlled the line of scrimmage on offense.”
The War Eagles’ ground attack totaled 298 yards against Butler. Senior Tamarion Peters had a team-high 111 yards on 11 attempts with a TD. Sophomore Rashod Daniel also produced at a high level, rushing for 82 yards on 16 carries with two TDs.
PCHS jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, and that score remained to the end of the first quarter. Daniel scored his first TD of the contest with eight minutes left in the second quarter when he took a handoff and crossed the goal line on a 12-yard rush.
Daniel’s second touchdown came not long after with a minute remaining in the half. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound running back punched it in from six yards out to extend the War Eagles’ lead to 20-0 at halftime.
“Rashod’s so explosive,” Pope said later. “When he gets the ball, he’s got one thing on his mind. It is to get downhill and try to find the goal line. He’s a very physical player on both sides of the ball. He’s just as physical as he is with the ball in his hands (at running back) as he is on defense at linebacker. He is a phenomenal young man.”
Putnam County’s domination of the Bulldogs didn’t let up at all in the second half.
Jalon Kilgore opened the third quarter with a 75-yard kickoff return for a TD; then Bryan Canales tacked on the PAT, and the War Eagles held a 27-0 advantage with 11 minutes left in the third. Canales then nailed a 30-yard field goal a few minutes later.
Bland scored Putnam County’s next TD rush early in the fourth quarter. The 5-foot-7, 165-pound skill player scored from 45 yards out, giving PCHS a 37-0 lead after the PAT. Sophomore Corey Foster capped off the scoring frenzy with a one-yard rushing touchdown.
“I think (Friday’s win) gave us an idea of what our identity is. Through the first few games, we were kind of searching for who we are,” Pope said. “We lost some good players from last year, but we’ve also got some really great players this year.”
Putnam County freshman quarterback Brannan Griffin finished the game by completing 5-of-8 passes for 55 yards. Bland (two catches, 28 yards) and Kilgore (three catches, 27 yards) were his only pass-catching targets in the win over the Bulldogs.
“Defensively, we played a little bit more sound. We bent a few times, but we never broke,” Pope said. “Butler was much improved. A much better team (than last year). They presented some problems for us because they’ve got a very athletic quarterback. They did a great job of running the football … but we played a much better game.”
Putnam County’s defense also shined in Friday’s lopsided victory, posting its first shutout of the season, a team-high six sacks and three interceptions. Daniel had two sacks, while Tyson Waller, Zacoree Wallace, Kemarion Griffin and Blake Tiller each had one. Peters, Kilgore and DJ Bland had one INT each.
“We’ve got to get a little bit more fundamentally sound. We’re still not fitting our gaps like we need to and aren’t as technically sound as we need to be (on defense),” Pope said. “Our guys are playing extremely hard and are making up for it with their effort. If they keep giving it a great effort, then we can fix the other part.”
The War Eagles will face Josey High (2-2, 1-1 Region 4-AA) at home on Friday night. The Eagles are coming off a 19-7 defeat to Westside (Augusta) this past week.
“They’re (Josey) big up front on both sides of the ball,” Pope said. “We really couldn’t establish the run against them last year over there (in Augusta). They’ve lost a couple of those guys, but they’ve still got good size up front. They’re also very athletic.”
The kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. against Josey.