Sheridan’s Jon Barnes has rushed for 423 yards and nine touchdowns this season. (Dwight Casler)
By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
No. 13 Sheridan Blackhawks (8-2) at No. 2 South Putnam Eagles (10-2)
The Sheridan Blackhawks make a 75-mile road trip to Wildman Field in Greencastle for the regional championship tomorrow night when they visit South Putnam.
The two teams have met seven other times in the playoffs in the past, with Sheridan owning a 4-3 record in those games. South Putnam won the home regional matchup last year, 60-19.
The Blackhawks have won three straight and seven of their last eight heading into a battle for the regional title.
First-year head coach Jake Chesney has Sheridan rolling at the right time.
The Reporter’s Dwight Casler caught up with Chesney after last week’s sectional championship win over Cloverdale, 14-7.
Last week at Bud Wright Stadium, Sheridan won its fourth straight sectional title. Alex Cravens rushed for 155 yards on 21 carries, including one of Sheridan’s two touchdowns, a 56-yard run.
“That senior class, now they’ve won a sectional every year they’ve been in high school,” said Chesney. “That’s pretty impressive.”
Cravens now leads the Hawks in rushing with 151 rushes for 990 yards and 11 touchdowns. Both he and Hayden Alexander (926 on 87 carries), also with 11 touchdowns, look to go over 1,000 yards on the season in the same game.
Jon Barnes continues to be a third backfield option with 423 yards on 80 runs and has nine touchdowns.
Quarterback Brock Hagan has 175 yards on 59 carries, scoring three touchdowns.
Defensively, the Blackhawks are led by Jayden Dunbar’s 80 tackles (13.5 for a loss), including 13 sacks and 19 quarterback hurries. Dunbar also has one fumble recovery and has caused three.
Cravens is close behind with 77 stops, three sacks and three fumbles caused. Barnes has 65 tackles and a pair of fumbles recovered. Brody Heck has 64 tackles, five interceptions, one fumble recovery, nine pass deflections and a blocked field goal.
South Putnam head coach Chuck Sorrell (62-20) is in his seventh season with the Eagles and is 66-46 in 10 years overall. He coached at South Vermillion (4-26) from 2011-13.
Winning its 14th sectional last week, South Putnam has seven regional and two semi-state titles. The Eagles won the 1986 Class 1A state championship over North Judson, 29-21.
The Eagles are a high-powered offense that averages 45.1 points per game and gives up 17.3. They also shut out three regular season opponents.
South Putnam is currently on a five-game winning streak and has won eight of nine.
The Eagles’ two losses were in Week 3 at Edgewood in overtime, 31-30 and in Week 7 at Northview, 48-33.
Easing through the first two rounds of Sectional 45 with dominating wins over Attica (68-14) and at Fountain Central (45-7), South Putnam forced Riverton Parke to overtime and came away with a 29-21 win.
Junior quarterback Drew Cline is a 57.5 percent passer (96-167) with 1,786 yards, 22 touchdowns and four interceptions. Cline also has 381 rushing yards on 67 carries with eight TDs.
Junior running back Ty Benton is ranked second in the state with 2,193 yards on 189 rushes (11.6 per carry) and 24 touchdowns. That gives him a 199.4 per game average on the ground.
Brier Cook provides a second option in the backfield with 717 yards, carrying 95 times for a 7.5 per carry average and 11 touchdowns.
Cline has a trio of receivers that have solid numbers. Khalil Jefferson has 22 receptions for 508 yards and seven touchdowns. Bransyn Ensor has almost identical statistics with 21 catches, 506 yards, also scoring seven times. Blake Witt leads the Eagles with 28 grabs for 383 yards and three TDs.
Keenan Mowery-Shields leads the state with 182 tackles, 5.5 sacks, nine quarterback hurries, a fumble recovery and two pass deflections. Jefferson leads the team with 8.5 sacks, 16 hurries and a fumble recovery.
Cline is tied with Brody Burdge for the lead in the secondary with three interceptions apiece. The two also combine for 17 pass deflections.
*If Sheridan wins, it would host Providence or travel to Milan.
