MADISON
There’s a good chance no one on the 2019 edition of the Seymour football team was alive the last time the Owls started their season 3-0.
Behind a 49-7 victory over the Madison Cubs to open up their Hoosier Hills Conference campaign, the Owls overcame a slow start on offense and will move into Week 4 of the high school football season unblemished for the first time since 2001 when the late Joe Goodman coached the team.
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It’s a feat third-year coach Mike Kelly tries not to bring up with his players.
“Flipping around our schedule has helped us, but you still have to get on the bus and play the game,” Kelly said. “Honestly, we don’t talk about it, we talk about what’s in front of us and trying to get better each and every week.”
Though the offense was sluggish in the opening quarter, the defense once again came ready to play and kept Madison out of the endzone early.
The Cubs nearly took their opening possession all the way to the house if not for the good eyes and even better hands of senior defensive back Cameron James, who high-pointed the ball for the first of two interceptions of the period. On their second drive, Madison got just a little bit farther down the field but an acrobatic play from middle linebacker Ethan Corwin picked off the ball in the endzone once again stymieing the Cub offense.
Corwin also had a blocked field goal.
Big defensive plays were a boon for the team according to Kelly but he wants to see his guys get more three and outs.
“They came up big for us twice down there in the redzone with those two picks and those are things we like to see,” Kelly said. “But we want to force those three-and-outs as much as we possibly can … and their offense was doing a nice job against us.”
Once the scoreboard ticked over to the second stanza, Seymour’s offense started to click.
Over the course of the second and third quarters, the Owls scored seven times led by the two-headed monster that is Brendan Smith and Chandler Drummond.
Drummond started the Owl blitz with a 17-yard run down the sideline and was followed by an excellent 67-yard pitch and catch from Smith to Ely Henderson to put the Owls in front 14-7.
After the Owls blocked a Madison field goal and the defense came up with another big stop, Smith led the two-minute drill to sneak in one more score before the halftime break.
Starting the drive on the Owls’ 30-yard line, some well-timed passes, capped by a 20-yard strike to Drew Vehslage, put the Owls in front by two scores before the break.
Kelly was pleased with how well his senior play caller ran the hurry-up offense.
“I was telling Brendan to clock and he throws a touchdown,” Kelly joked. “I’m not going to argue with a touchdown. So, we’ll take it.
“It was huge for us in setting the tone.”
A poor play to start the third quarter was quickly squashed after Smith and Drummond went right back to pile on two more scores in the early stages of the period. A long sprint from Drummond led to a 7-yard quarterback keeper from Smith. Drummond got two more scores before the end of the third, scampering into the endzone one more time as the clock expired.
Josh Pennington rounded out the Seymour scoring with a 38-yard punt return for touchdown to start the running clock for the Owls.
The Owls complete their early-season, three-game road test next Friday against HHC rival Jennings County at 7 p.m. Seymour defeated the Panthers 45-14 last year.
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Owls;49
Cubs;7
Seymour (3-0);0;21;28;0 — 49
Madison (0-3);0;7;0;0 — 7
Second quarter
S-Chandler Drummond 17-yard run (Joshua Guevara kick good), 9:29
M-Parker Jones 72-yard pass to Bryce Foy (Will Heitz kick good), 8:38
S-Brendan Smith 67-yard pass to Ely Henderson (Guevara kick good), 7:31
S-Smith 20 pass to Drew Vehslage (Guevara kick good), 0:08
Third Quarter
S-Smith 7 run (Guevara kick good), 8:33
S-Drummond 3 run (Guevara kick good), 5:49
S-Josh Pennington 38-yard punt return (Guevara kick good), 4:20
S-Drummond 40 run (Guevara kick good), 0:00
INDIVIDUAL SHS STATISTICS
Rushing: Drummond 15-168-3, Smith 7-42-1, Colin Greathouse 2-39
Passing: Smith 8-14-190-2
Receiving: Ely Henderson 4-111-1, Drew Vehslage 3-54-1, Brayden Barker 1-7, Russell Shuler 1-18
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