For The Tribune
After two performances that were marred by turnovers and special teams mistakes, the football gods finally applied the law of averages to Seymour’s football team during a satisfying 35-0 victory over Madison on Friday night.
All told, the Owls (1-2) forced five Madison turnovers, recorded two safeties and claimed their first defensive shutout since a 7-0 victory over South Dearborn in the season-opening game of the 2018 season.
The turnaround in luck happened unexpectedly and suddenly during the second quarter. You might say it was instant karma (in a nod to the Seymour marching band’s welcome inclusion of John Lennon in its halftime repertoire).
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Tied at zero, Russell Shuler chased and sacked Madison quarterback Kaden Oliver for a 13-yard loss, forcing the Cubs to punt. A bad snap caused Madison punter Zack Forner to pursue the loose ball back to his 5-yard line. He gathered it, turned and booted the ball … right into the raised arms of Seymour’s Drew Vehslage, who recovered his blocked punt and ran 10 yards for a touchdown.
Vehslage’s big play gave the Owls a 7-0 lead with 10:31 left in the second quarter, their first lead of the season.
The good luck continued for Seymour. On the ensuing kickoff, Caleb Elliott perfectly placed his kick into empty space along the left sideline at the Madison 14-yard line. The Cubs’ lone returner, senior Trenton Barnes, was left to run from midfield to track down the ball with a host of Owls quickly gaining on him.
Barnes never corralled the ball, allowing Seymour senior Chandler Drummond to fall on it. The Owls took over on Madison’s 14 and scored four plays later when quarterback Cody Ruble scored on a 2-yard run.
The Owls took advantage of another Madison special teams miscue in the third quarter. Punting from their 20-yard line, the Cubs again overshot Forner on the snap, in fact so much so that the ball skipped through the Madison end zone for a Seymour safety and a 16-0 Owls lead.
Seymour then followed the safety with its best possession of the game, a four-play, 52-yard drive that featured three plays of 10 or more yards that Drummond capped with a 1-yard run to extend the advantage to 23-0.
The Owls continued the onslaught in the fourth quarter. Elliott kicked a 23-yard field goal and Will Gray found Thomas Fraizer along the left sideline for a pretty 41-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 33-0.
With the game clock running out, Seymour ended the night with another safety, this time when senior Steven Wilson brought down a Madison ball carrier in the end zone to close the scoring at 35-0.
The offense’s awakening was highlighted by quarterback Ruble, who ran the Owls’ up-tempo, possession-passing attack perfectly, throwing for 212 yards on 22 for 34 passing.
Ruble spread the ball around to seven receivers with Vehslage (six catches for 49 yards) and Ryan Elmore (five for 35 yards) being the most targeted pass catchers.
Defensively, the Owls continued to play well. Hidden behind Seymour’s winless start has been a productive defense. In last week’s loss to Jeffersonville, for instance, the defense allowed just six of the Red Devils’ 28 points. And after starting the game with an 80-yard touchdown run, Seymour yielded just 83 more yards to Jeff during the remainder of the game.
That pattern continued Friday. Besides limiting Madison’s rush attack to 70 yards, the Owls finished with five takeaways, led by middle linebacker Evan “Big Play” Smith. The sophomore intercepted a pass and recovered two fumbles, giving him his best night since the season opener against South Dearborn when he returned an interception for a touchdown.
Another sophomore, Treyton McCormick, also had a big night for the defense, intercepting two Madison passes. Josh Pennington led all Owl tacklers with 11 stops.