Putnam County has a chance to right its wrongs this Friday in Augusta against former region foe Laney.
The War Eagles (0-2) will be seeking their first victory this season, hoping it will be over the Wildcats (1-1).
“[Laney] has always got physical kids,” Putnam head coach Joel Harvin said. “Coach [Ronnie] Baker, I’ve gotten to know him the past couple of years, and he does a good job coaching up his guys.”
Laney’s first game was a 7-6 loss to Westside-Augusta. The contest didn’t finish due to a shooting near the stadium, but the Wildcats defeated Hephzibah 30-21 this past week for their first win.
Despite leading most of the contest, Hephzibah gave Laney’s defense trouble on the ground. The Rebels rushed for 290 yards and three scores. They also had two players rush for over 100 yards.
Luckily for Putnam, the running game is its offense’s bread and butter. The War Eagles are led by running back Rashod Daniel, who has rushed for 290 yards and four touchdowns through two games.
Harvin believes his team is still trying to find its identity, but the offense runs through Daniel.
“Last week, against Greene, we had a few situations where Rashod wasn’t in the game when he probably needed him,” Harvin said. “So, we addressed that as coaches. We went to him and told him that if our paycheck was on the line, we needed him in the game. He laughed, but it’s the truth.”
Daniel scored three touchdowns against Morgan County last week, keeping his team in the game. The 5-foot-10, 210-pound senior running back totaled 165 yards against the ‘Dogs in a loss.
Daniel rushed for 130 yards in week one with a rushing touchdown and a 57-yard receiving score.
Harvin believes Daniel can help carry the load again at Laney this Friday.
“He’s such a special player. The kickoff return [against Morgan] gave us a chance to be back in the game,” Harvin said. “The hard physical runs, man, it takes two or three guys to bring him down.”
Offensively, Laney lost its top three rushers, three leading pass catchers, and quarterback from last season to graduation. However, despite being a young team, Harvin believes the Wildcats have other skill guys to call upon.
“They’re pretty sound on defense, physical on offense, and will always have playmakers,” he said.
The second-year Putnam coach just wants more consistency from his defense. The War Eagles have given up an average of 35 points per game through the first two weeks of the regular season.
“We’ll be fine,” he said. “As coaches, we’re trying to fix those mistakes, but we’ve faced two good teams.”