Going into the 2018 season, the Seymour football seniors formed three major goals.

They aimed to win the squad’s season-opener, beat rival Brownstown Central and go undefeated at home.

On Friday night, in the freezing rain, they completed the last of the three tasks.

Seymour held Madison to a single score in a 28-7 senior night victory at Bulleit Stadium.

The last time SHS didn’t have a loss at home in the regular season was in 2001. The Owls were 4-0 on their home turf this year.

By defeating the Cubs (1-8), the Owls (6-3) also guaranteed an above-.500 finish this fall. It is the second winning season for the Owls since the ’05 season and the first for second-year head coach Mike Kelly.

“We did a lot in terms of meeting some goals, but now, we need to reset those and make the new goals a little higher as we progress into the playoffs,” Kelly said.

The Owls turned the ball over on downs on their opening possession before making the Cubs punt on their first offensive series.

On the Owls’ next drive, they went 85 yards on nine plays to take the lead.

On a third-and-4, Owls quarterback Brendan Smith broke a pair of tackles and juked past a Cubs defensive back to score from 40 yards with 4:18 on the clock.

Madison’s offense then gained momentum, as the Cubs used nine plays to get to Seymour’s 30-yard line before the end of the first quarter.

After a 21-yard pass by Luke Ommen, Jace Humes broke through the line on a draw play for a 7-yard TD run with 10:47 in the second quarter.

After a big kickoff return by Evan Dover, the Owls went 41 yards to retake the lead.

Smith connected with Elijah Corwin for a 33-yard gain through the air before fullback Conner Klakamp punched the ball in at the goal line to put the Owls up 14-7 with 4:49 until the break.

Each team had two more possessions, but neither found the end zone again by intermission.

At the break, the Owls led 14-7.

The Seymour defense didn’t break the rest of the way.

After forcing a Cubs punt, the Owls went 84 yards on six plays.

On the Cubs’ 32, Smith ripped a touchdown run with a defender hanging off of him for the final 2 yards, which put the Owls up 21-7 with 6:08 left in the third quarter.

With 2:09 remaining in the quarter, Dover recovered a fumbled punt return on the Cubs’ 14.

Nathan O’Mara then ran the ball three times, which was capped by a 2-yard TD run with 58 seconds on the clock.

Through three quarters, the Owls led 28-7.

While the Cubs were able to get into Owls territory once in the fourth quarter, an interception by Ethan Corwin on the Owls’ 3-yard line proved to kill any chance of a Madison score with 9:31 left in the game.

Smith led the Owls with 115 yards on 14 carries and two TDs, while O’Mara had 109 yards on 17 rushing attempts and a TD. Smith finished 5-for-12 through the air with 88 yards.

Humes had 35 yards on 17 carries, and Trenton Barnes had 31 yards on nine carries. Ommen completed 7 of 15 passes for 108 yards with one interception.

In the game, O’Mara boosted his total to 258 carries on the season, passing Anthony Desender (2005) for the second-most attempts in a season in school history. O’Mara (1,765) also passed Desender (1,753) for second in rushing yards in a season in the game.

He currently trails Michael Batts (264 carries, 2,066 yards, 1991) for rushing attempts and yards in a season.

Now, the Owls play the waiting game.

They will play the winner of Friday’s game between New Albany and Columbus East. Since Seymour got a bye in the first round, the Owls will be on the road Oct. 26.

“We are going to use this opportunity to recover,” Kelly said. “We want to get better and focus on being the best we can be for the playoffs.”