The long wait for action on the gridiron ended over the weekend in Seymour.

On Saturday evening, in front of a few hundred fans, the high school’s football program held its annual purple/white intrasquad scrimmage at Bulleit Stadium, welcoming the community to the 2018 season.

Mike Kelly, who is entering his second year as head coach, and his staff held the scrimmages for multiple reasons.

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“We want to have a scrimmage so we can put ourselves in a competitive environment, and to get the fans out to see what’s going on with Seymour football and to see how our program is progressing,” Kelly said. “It’s a great way to kick off the season. We have a scrimmage, but I think this is the one time we can come together as a community.”

Seymour’s varsity and junior varsity both participated on the evening, switching on and off after a set number of plays. Outside of situational drives, the team also practiced special teams.

Owls senior Haden Mettert said the team has grown over the past few weeks as a unit, and the scrimmage allowed the team to show what they’ve been working on.

“(The scrimmage) lets us know how we are going to be in a game situation,” he said. “We have refs and fans out here. It lets the community see where we are at. They get to see what’s going to be out here on Fridays.”

SHS hit the first week of official practices hard.

“We had a great week of practice,” Kelly said. “It’s a grueling week. I think we were here for 47 hours. It was a good week of learning and growth, and coming together as a football program. One of the things I think is really important is to know where your team is and what the pulse is of the team. If they are coming together as one. I think we’ve done that this year. It’s very good for us.”

Kelly said that players are still earning their spots.

“We have a lot of positions that are still open,” he said. “We have younger guys that are pushing. They are getting out athletically. We think we have a lot more athleticism this year. Our numbers increased significantly in the weight room, and our speed and power also increased. Now, we get to see that on the field. To have numbers is one thing, but to see them produce athletically is another.”

The numbers in the weight room aren’t the only ones that have increased. SHS grew from around 65 players at this time last year to 81 to start the 2018 season.

During the scrimmages, fans were also invited to check out the new weight room in the stadium.

The new equipment includes eight weightlifting racks and eight half-racks. Along with the racks, the purchase also came with weight equipment allowing students to do typical lifts such as bench, squat, and power clean and more advanced weightlifting.

“I think it’s good to see where we are, and notice and show appreciation to our administration for seeing the value of what a weight room can bring to athletics,” Kelly said. “Not just for football, but the entire school. They did it right. They didn’t say ‘hey, here’s a band-aid to put on the problem.’ They fixed it and made it more conducive. It think our athletes have really embraced the weight room this year. Not just in the offseason, but also all summer.

You see all of the teams in here. Every program sees the value of it. We don’t want to just be average, which is something that we’re trying to push. I think some teams get complacent, and we don’t want that mentality. We want to get after it. The weight room is one way we can push that envelope just a little bit.”

With the new equipment, the weight room accommodates up to 64 athletes at once.

The new weight room, which costed $125,000, is used all eight periods of the school day. More than 200 students used the weight daily at the football stadium prior to the upgrade, which was completed in April.

Seymour will host Silver Creek on Friday for a scrimmage before opening the season at South Dearborn on Aug. 17.