One minute, the Seymour Owls had everyone thinking the offense was all about passing.
The next minute, the Owls had everyone convinced the offense’s foundation was running.
After an 0-2 start, coach Tyson Moore returned to the laboratory, and when his science experiments concluded, his football squad was a mix-it-up team, quite chemically balanced. It has made all the difference.
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Seymour ripped off three straight wins before last Friday’s 43-42 heartbreaking loss to Brownstown Central.
“It’s weird seeing how confused the defenses can get,” senior running back Chandler Drummond said. “They get zoned in on the run game and coach will throw in a pass.”
Drummond is one of the Owls’ multipurpose weapons. Quarterback Cody Ruble is the leading thrower in the area. He has a smorgasbord of receivers.
But Drummond can both catch and carry, run and receive, and along with Colin Greathouse, plus Ruble’s keeper contributions, they take turns pushing those opposing defenses back on their heels. That makes the D fritter away crucial seconds trying to figure out which mode of attack Seymour will employ.
“Just being able to do that is awesome,” Drummond said of the coupling of throwing and running.
After six games with Seymour 3-3, Drummond is averaging just shy of 4 yards a carry for 160 ground yards and has gathered in four passes while scoring 18 points on three touchdowns.
There have definitely been some highlight moments, particularly lately.
Often, Seymour alternates calling plays for Drummond and Greathouse to slice through offensive holes, but two weeks ago in a 26-7 victory at Bedford North Lawrence, Drummond accounted for his own drive. No taking turns, just give the ball to Drummond.
Not only did he score the last touchdown for Seymour, he gained all of the yards on the drive, the sequence playing out like this: 12 yards rushing, 7 yards, 1 yard, 6 yards, 5 yards, 12 yards. The last run was almost halted, but Drummond broke the tackle and forced his way into the end zone.
“I’m not going to lie,” Drummond said. “That last drive was really tiring.”
Maybe so, but Drummond was proud of the series that he was relied on so heavily and that he made things happen from first downs to touchdown.
“It’s always satisfying to move the ball, to move the sticks and show you’re the one moving them,” he said.
Moore, Drummond and Ruble agree the reason the Seymour offense has perked up has been the jelling of the offensive line, which has enlarged the size of the holes the ball carriers spurt through.
“The offensive line did a good job and the running backs did a tremendous job,” Moore said of the showing in the last-second loss to Brownstown.
Moore said the offense did yeoman work adjusting, even as the Braves threw a fresh defensive style at the Owls.
“It definitely worked for us,” he said.
What became a classic Jackson Bowl with three touchdowns and lead changes in the final minute was a stinging loss Seymour must recover from at home Friday night against 3-2 New Albany in a Hoosier Hills Conference game.
Moore admitted he must be a psychological coach as much as anything this week.
“Hey, let’s move on,” is the Owls theme he said. “They will be highly motivated.”
Drummond did his best to alter the outcome in the wacky last minute, running back a kickoff 58 yards that set up Seymour for a 42-36 lead with 17 seconds left.
That was just after Brownstown went ahead 36-35 on a two-point conversion. Not many expected the Braves to find a way to add still another TD and snatch the win.
“Honestly, we need to mentally forget that game,” Drummond said. “We need to because we have to.”
Since Seymour is 3-0 in conference, there are bigger stakes looming than the nonleague Brownstown defeat, favorite rivalry or not.
“It was another rock in the road,” Drummond said. “It was there, but we’ve got to step over it. (The clock) was going to run out on somebody. Unfortunately, it was us.”