Putnam County secured its first victory last week over Haralson County, thanks to a strong effort from Bill Waters.
Waters stepped in for injured senior running back Rashod Daniel and shined. The junior rushed for a career-high 170 yards on 10 carries for four touchdowns in a 28-3 win over the visiting Rebels.
Putnam head coach Joel Harvin was proud of Waters’ ability to carry the load and has seen him grow in the last year.
“Bill was forced to play early in his 10th grade year, so he went through a lot of the rough games we’ve been through,” Harvin said. “It helped his character by being thrown into the fire pretty early. It paid off for him. He was eager to get in and run the ball. He wants to win and is willing to do whatever it takes. I’m pleased with his effort and the way he’s grown into it, matured, and become a really good football player for us.”
Waters shredded Haralson’s defense en route to Putnam’s first victory, averaging 17 yards per attempt. Two of Waters’ touchdowns came in the second quarter, helping the War Eagles take a two-score lead into the half.
Waters broke open the game in the third quarter with a 71-yard touchdown score, extending his team’s big lead. The 5-foot-11 junior tailback scored his final rushing touchdown on a 14-yard attempt in the final period.
“I felt like the coach put me in the right spot to help the team,” Waters said. “I didn’t do it by myself. I give big credit to the offensive line paving the way for me.”
According to Harvin, others stepped up besides Waters, with starting quarterback Jamarion Robertson also injured. Backups Ethan Whatley and Branan Griffin stepped up under center, splitting time as the game continued.
Griffin and Waters were a one-two punch out of the Putnam backfield. Griffin rushed for 105 yards on 20 carries.
“Jamarion got hurt on the first series, so we were forced to put in some other guys,” Harvin said. “Ethan Whatley stepped in at the quarterback position, and Branan played some. Bill jumped in at running back, scoring four times, so he had a big night. Those guys who normally don’t carry the ball for us jumped in, and we didn’t skip a beat. But there are some things we can work on and get better at, but proud of these guys.”
Defensively, Putnam held Haralson to a season-low three points and only 83 yards rushing. The visiting Rebels could never get anything going offensively as the War Eagles’ defensive front smothered them all night.
Harvin said he and his staff simplified things for the defense before the game, and that plan worked well.
“We were about six inches away from having a shutout. They kicked a field goal and landed it on the crossbar,” Harvin said. “It was close to being a shutout, but we did some things a little differently on defense for our guys. We tried to make things as simple as possible for some of our guys who were struggling. It paid off.”
Putnam (1-3) has a bye this Friday before beginning region play against McNair next week at home. The War Eagles plan to use this week to get healthy before playing six straight region games to finish the regular season.
“The biggest thing is getting healthy,” Harvin said. “We’ll still have a few guys out when we start region play, but we want to be as healthy as we can get to be ready to hit region play. We don’t get another off week until the last week of the season before the playoffs start. We must get healthy because we’ll play some physical games.”