Putnam County (1-0) and Morgan County (1-0) will renew their rivalry Friday night at Bill Corry Stadium in Madison.
Last season, the Dogs defeated the War Eagles 42-28 in a shootout. Morgan is favored to win 48-16 this year, according to the Massey Ratings prediction by On3.com.
Regardless, Morgan County head coach Clint Jenkins knows facing Putnam County will be tough. The Dogs won 56-13 at Warren County last Saturday, so it will be a quick turnaround to face the War Eagles six days later.
“Overall, I think they’ve definitely improved from last year, especially defensively,” Jenkins said. “They did a great job of getting after Greene County last week, and they play well within that defensive system.”
Putnam defeated Greene County 42-15 in its home opener. The War Eagles’ defense stymied the Tigers’ rushing attack outside of a few plays, and wreaked havoc in the backfield. They totaled three sacks and eight tackles for loss.
Jenkins also gave praise to Putnam’s offense, which totaled 427 yards, with 340 coming on the ground, last week.
“Man No. 6 (Omarion Butts) and No. 16 (Kumari Thomas) are good,” Jenkins said. “They also efficiently threw the ball downfield with their quarterback (Ethan Whatley). He had a solid outing last week.”
Jenkins thinks his team will come out on top if it can win the battle in the trenches. He saw on film how the War Eagles’ front seven got after it defensively against Greene, but also how well their running game flourished.
“It’s going to be a challenge for us,” Jenkins said. “That’s for sure.”
Putnam County head coach Joel Harvin has a lot of respect for the Dogs, who entered this week ranked No. 7 in Class 2A.
After defeating Warren County on the road, Harvin said he knows the Dogs will be ready to play a big rivalry game at home.
“I think it’s going to be a good game. Our kids will be ready to play,” he said. “Obviously, we’re playing there, and I haven’t been there as a coach yet, but I’ve heard that it’s a tough atmosphere. I hope it’s a good atmosphere because that’s what our kids deserve to play in.”
Harvin expects the Dogs to be a well-rounded team after they made it to the Class 2A quarterfinals last year. They bring back All-State players in senior quarterback Davis Strickland and senior running back/linebacker Christian Monfort. Their senior class also features Braxton Jones, Ty Tillery, Colton Morgan, and Drew Ainslie.
“I haven’t seen them much on film, so I don’t know if they’re running the same stuff, but I know they’re well coached,” Harvin said. “They will be ready to play.”
Morgan County leads the all-time series 32-18-1 over Putnam County. Friday’s game will kick off at 7:30 p.m.