SEYMOUR
Never say die.
That’s the motto displayed by the Seymour Owls on Friday night to begin their 2019 campaign.
After falling down early to South Dearborn early in the first quarter, the Owls fought back to take the lead at the break, fell behind again after a poor start to the second half and then rallied to win 30-26.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryAt times, however, the comeback didn’t look meant to be. Multiple penalties, both on offense and defense, nearly ended the Owls’ comeback as soon as it started.
Two pass interference penalties by the Owls put South Dearborn in scoring position with less than two minutes to go.
The Knights’ star running back, Dalton Guthrie, had a clear path to the endzone to put them back in front but a great, come-from-behind play from linebacker Ethan Corwin poked the ball out of his hands and out of the endzone to just about ice the game for the Owls.
“That’s a huge play,” Seymour coach Mike Kelly said, “and then to have that ball go out of bounds was even bigger.”
It also will serve as a big teaching moment for the Owls says Kelly.
“The lesson there is you don’t stop playing football,” Kelly continued. “He was just making a last-ditch effort and, luckily, he put his hand on the football and popped it out.”
Kelly admitted the game was a little more stressful than he wanted but was able to joke postgame thanks to the win.
“It was a fun game, I’m sure the fans enjoyed it,” Kelly said. “Thus far this year, we’ve been pretty exciting at home.”
A poor start to the game allowed South Dearborn to score the first touchdown of the season at Bulleit Stadium via a 41-yard run on fourth down.
Yet, the Owls responded well and dominated the rest of the first half, driving up and down the field to take a 14-6 lead in the locker room.
Chandler Drummond and Josh Pennington scored in the first half thanks to tough runs of three and seven yards.
In the second half, Brendan Smith took over, scoring both with his legs and his arm to lead the comeback. He tossed a 16-yard touchdown to Drew Vehslage to start the comeback and then finished it off with a 1-yard power run up the middle to complete it.
This is the third year in a row the Owls have won their home opener but it’s the second time they’ve really had to sweat it out until the end. Kelly doesn’t expect it to get any less stressful going forward.
“We play them again next year and they’ll have a lot of returners coming back,” Kelly said. “They’re a great football team and they create a significant challenge for you on offense and defense. I’m just elated with our win tonight.”
The Owls hit the road next week for their first Hoosier Hills Conference game of the season against Jeffersonsville. Seymour won a slugfest last year against the Red Devils, 31-29. Though they got the win on Friday, Kelly hopes his players come out with some more fight next week.
“It’s no secret what we’re going to try and do offensively,” Kelly said. “This was a fun game but we’ve got to come up with some more explosive plays offensively. I think that’s the one thing we didn’t have tonight, we didn’t have any big, explosive plays and we just kind of managed the clock. We had too many three-and-outs and you just can’t have that against good football teams.”
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Knights;26
Owls;30
South Dearborn;6;0;14;6 — 26
Seymour;7;7;3;13 — 30
First quarter
SD-Dalton Guthrie 41-yard run (Mitch Manford kick failed), 6:56
S-Chandler Drummond 3 run (Joshua Guevara kick good), 0:02
Second quarter
S-Josh Pennington 7 run (Guevara kick good), 3:54
Third Quarter
SD-Adam Dixon 12-yard pass to Jake Black (2-pt conversion good), 6:48
S- Guevara 28-yard field goal, 2:57
SD-Dixon 14 pass to Black (2-pt conversion failed), 0:09
Fourth Quarter
SD-Guthrie 28 run (Manford kick failed), 10:01
S-Brendan Smith 16-yard pass to Drew Vehslage (Guevara kick good), 6:00
S-Smith 1 run (2-pt conversion failed), 4:38
INDIVIDUAL SHS STATISTICS (Unofficial)
Rushing: Drummond 29-122-1, Smith 16-53-1, Pennington 2-13-1
Passing: Smith 6-17-64-1
Receiving: Drew Vehslage 3-29-1, Ely Henderson 2-31, Jackson Lowe 1-4.
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