ROACHDALE — Contain Kramer.
That’s something the North Montgomery defense was unable to do on Friday.
The North Putnam junior quarterback ran the ball 26 times for 197 yards and six touchdowns in a 52-20 win over the Chargers.
“He (Kramer) runs really hard, and their line up front was more aggressive than our D-Line tonight, and we have to do a better job of hit, wrapping, and driving our feet,” North Montgomery coach Josh Thompson said following the loss.
North Putnam turned a close 22-20 halftime score into a blowout win over its future conference rival. The Cougars (1-0) got a defensive stop to start the second half, before Kramer scored on a 1-yard run. And then at the 5:44 mark in the third quarter, his 4-yard touchdown busted the game open.
“I told the kids after the game, if you want to get yourself out of a hole,” Thompson said. “Step one is start digging, step two is we have to reach deep down and dig ourselves out. And when you are making mistakes and penalties, it’s hard to start digging.”
After an early punt, the Charger offense did get settled in. Jack Warren found Kelby Harwood on a 14-yard fade route to make it 8-6 North Putnam early in the second quarter, before hitting Harwood for a 59-yard score. Warren also hooked up with Kingston Runyon on a 4-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the first half to make it 22-20.
North Putnam though never trailed in the contest.
“The second half we fizzled out,” Thompson said. “We have to do a better job of staying in the game and continuing to fight. We finished the half really well. We clawed right back into it, but you have to carry that into the second half. We can’t let one little bad mistake snowball.”
The Cougars outgained the Chargers 378-267 for the game and had 27 first downs compared to 15 for North Montgomery.
Warren, in his first start at quarterback, connected on 14-of-29 passes for 207 yards, including eight times to Harwood for 146 yards.
North Montgomery is at Cascade Friday, while North Putnam is at Southmont.
