IHSAA football Class A state final: Pioneer vs. South Putnam

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Here is a look at the Class A title game:

Matchup

Pioneer (13-1) vs. South Putnam (12-2)

Rankings

Pioneer No. 5 in USA TODAY Network Indiana poll; South Putnam No. 4

Kickoff

11 a.m. Friday, at Lucas Oil Stadium

How to watch

IHSAAtv.org

Championships

Pioneer has three state championships, bringing home Class A titles in 1997, 2017 and 2018. The Panther are also a two-time runner-up, losing in the state finals in 2014 and ’16. Pioneer also has state titles in softball (two), girls’ basketball (one) and volleyball (one). South Putnam won its only state championship in 1986 in Class A, defeating North Judson 29-21. The Eagles went back to the state finals in 2002, losing 17-14 to Southwood.

Coaches

Pioneer coach Adam Berry, 38, is 101-26 in his 10^th season at Pioneer with two state championships and another state finals appearance. Berry is a 2006 Pioneer graduate who went to Ball State, where he was part of the Ball State water ski team. He started his coaching career at Pioneer in 2014 as an assistant.

South Putnam coach Chuck Sorrell, 47, is 64-20 in his seventh season at South Putnam. Sorrell graduated from Brownsburg in 1997 and Franklin College in 2001. He started his coaching career as an assistant at Brownsburg in 2002, then went to Lapel in 2004 and coached with Derek Moyers at Pike from 2007-10. He went 4-26 at his first head coaching stop at South Vermillion from 2011-13. He was an assistant Cascade for two seasons and Northview for three before he was hired at South Putnam in 2019.

A closer look at Pioneer

Pioneer ranks eighth in the state in points allowed per game (10.4). The Panthers defeated No. 3 Frontier 45-14 in the sectional semifinals and took out No. 10 South Adams last week in the semistate. Since a 38-20 loss to 3A Knox in Week 2, Pioneer has 11 consecutive wins.

Pioneer runs a wing-T attack that rolls up 342 rushing yards per game. Senior fullback Noah Van Meter (1,449 rushing yards, 18 TDs), senior running back Shiloh Rine (1,137 yards, 16 TDs) and senior quarterback Micah Rans (1,067 yards, 25 TDs) are all over 1,000 yards and sophomore running back Phillip McFatridge (932 yards, seven TDs) has a chance to get there. Senior linebacker Juan Solano (111 tackles, five TFLs) and senior linebacker Eli Guffey (79 tackles, 16½ TFLs, four sacks) are among the defensive leaders.

A closer look at South Putnam

The Eagles are averaging 43.3 points (fifth in Class A) and allowing just 15.7 points (eighth in Class A). South Putnam played just one ranked team during the tournament run, defeating No. 6 Riverton Parke 29-21 in overtime in the sectional championship.

South Putnam averages a staggering 462 yards per game, including 311 on the ground. Ty Benton, a 5-10, 185-pound junior, has 2,452 rushing yards and 26 rushing TDs. Brier Cook, a junior, has 784 rushing yards and 12 rushing TDs. In his first year as a starter, junior quarterback Drew Cline has 2,072 passing yards and 25 passing TDs. His top targets are junior receivers Bransyn Ensor (24 catches, 614 yards, nine TDs) and Blake Witt (29 catches, 472 yards, three TDs) and senior tight end Khalil Jefferson (24 catches, 521 yards, seven TDs). Junior linebacker Keenan Mowery-Shields (229 tackles, 18 ½ TFLs, 5 ½ sacks) is one of the defensive leaders.

Quotable

South Putnam’s Sorrell on making state finals for first time since 2002:

“We sold over 1,000 t-shirts (Sunday) and the design they used was sort of the same (as 2002). Everybody is so excited. I’ve been saying for seven years since I took the job that we are going to go to a state championship and win a state championship. That’s what I’m here for. We’ve been knocked off four years in a row by the state champion and now we have an opportunity. The community is so behind us and the week is already laid out. The meals are all laid out, the Thanksgiving dinner is laid out. It’s all being taken care of and as a football coach, I can just coach football. I have such a good parent group that I don’t have to worry about all that stuff. My administration lets me be a football coach. It’s not going to be any different this week.”

On preparing for Pioneer’s wing-T offense:

“We just have to make sure we are tackling the right guy. Everybody is going to have a guy to tackle. You have to tackle your responsibility. If we do that, we are going to make them drive the field on us. And our defense has been pretty good with that. You don’t get big plays on us. You are going to have to drive it. If we do that, I think we have a really good chance on Friday.”

How Pioneer can win

Control the ball. Grind out first downs. Hit a big play here and there. Pioneer has to stay ahead or close because it does not have an offense designed to come from behind. The Panthers have just 394 passing yards on the season. On defense, Pioneer needs to keep South Putnam behind the chains and off schedule.

How South Putnam can win

As Sorrell said, reading keys on defense and tackling everybody is the key to slowing down Pioneer. On offense, establishing Benton and the running game will allow South Putnam to open up the pass.

Prediction

Pioneer 28, South Putnam 27.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.Get IndyStar's high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA football Class A state final preview: Pioneer vs. South Putnam

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