By Dylan Wallace
Seymour football head coach Tyson Moore believes last Friday’s 56-26 loss to South Dearborn was a wake-up call for the Owls.
Seymour was trailing 28-26 at halftime before getting outscored 28-0 in the second half to fall to 0-1 on the season.
“We got to make changes in how we prepare and play,” Moore said. “Biggest thing I wanted them to take away from this week is it doesn’t matter where you think you are, you can always get better.”
Moore pointed out that some players thought it was a young South Dearborn team and that they would be able to walk in there and do whatever they wanted.
“We found out relatively quickly that wasn’t the case,” Moore said.
So when Seymour hit the practice field for the first time Monday, Moore was pleased with the attitude his team brought.
Moore said practice was upbeat, more tense than normal but in a good way and it provided a good wake-up call for his team.
It’s what the Owls will need come Friday when they go on the road again to play Jeffersonville at 7 p.m. The Red Devils have not yet played a game because their first was one canceled due to health and safety protocols.
“You always expect them to be athletic and fast. That’s how they operate,” Moore said. “They can make a play at any point in the game to swing the momentum. We can’t have a track meet with them. I told our guys that, ‘They’re going to beat us one-on-one 10 times out of 10, so we have to stay disciplined if we want to win.’”
Seymour hopes to eliminate a lot of the mistakes it made last Friday at South Dearborn.
Even though quarterback Will Gray threw four interceptions, he made a lot of good decisions, and that’s what the coaching staff wants to focus on.
“Biggest thing is just decision-making,” Moore said. “He’s a confident kid. He made a lot of good decisions out there, and it’s building on the positives he took away and trying to eliminate the mistakes he did make.”
A positive from last Friday’s game is how well the underclassmen on the roster played.
Seymour lost 27 seniors from the 2020 season, so Moore started a good majority of freshmen and sophomores, and he thought guys like Jaylan Johnson and Jack Pennington really stood out.
“Relieved with how our young guys played,” he said. “Handful of freshmen and sophomores who started, so that’s promising when you look toward the future.”
But as Moore pointed out, this young Seymour team will have to be disciplined if it wants to get that first mark in the win column for the 2021 season this Friday.
“When it comes down to it, we have got to be disciplined,” Moore said. “We can’t make the mistakes we did last week, and we’ve got to take care of the football.”