GREENWOOD — When reflecting on what went wrong during Seymour’s 35-7 loss to Greenwood to kickoff the 2022 season, head coach Tyson Moore kept it straightforward: Everything.

The Owls’ offense stalled out too much, the defense allowed too many big plays and there were too many missed opportunities throughout the game.

“There wasn’t one thing I can really pinpoint,” Moore said. “First half, everything that could go wrong for us did. We couldn’t tackle, we couldn’t control the line offensively. Offensively, we couldn’t get anything going. We dropped too many balls. We missed too many throws. It was really all across the board.”

Seymour’s first possession started out well. Will Gray found Kyle Hileman for a 25-yard gain, but the drive stalled on a 4th and 8 inside Greenwood territory.

After a couple carries from Alan Burnett, Greenwood fumbled the ball and Seymour’s Mark Henson came up with the recovery.

It wasn’t until the Woodmen’s second drive where they got on the scoreboard first. It was Brock Riddle’s first pass attempt of the game, and he found tight end Carter Campbell for a 17-yard route up the middle. It was 7-0 at the end of one.

There was an opportunity for the Owls on a trick play in the second quarter that had Bret Perry come on an end around, and he had Jack Pennington wide open down the field for a would-be touchdown, but Perry slightly underthrew the ball and Pennington couldn’t get to it. One of the misses Moore alluded to.

Later in the second quarter, Greenwood found the end zone twice. Burnett punched it in from 1-yard out, and then Riddle found Campbell again on a 7-yard fade route in the corner of the end zone.

Greenwood held a 21-0 advantage with just under three minutes to go in the first half. On the ensuing kickoff, Henson took it back to the house, but a block in the back penalty brought the ball back to Greenwood’s 27-yard line.

It was still good field possession for the Owls, who cashed in on the second play of the drive when Gray used play-action design to find Josh Rennekamp for a 24-yard touchdown.

The score was 21-7 at the half in favor of the home team.

Greenwood got the ball to start the second half, and both teams had a couple three-and-outs to start the half.

“Our defense came out and did a better job in the second half,” Moore said.

A big turning point came with five minutes left in the third quarter. On a 4th and 5, Gray scrambled out to his right and threw a prayer into the end zone from 17 yards out. Pennington won the jump-ball and came down with the catch, but there was an illegal man downfield for the Owls.

Instead of cutting the deficit to seven, Greenwood stopped Seymour on a 4th and 10 and took over possession.

The Woodmen then felt what Seymour did. Riddle completed a 62-yard, catch-and-run touchdown pass to Ethan Pringle, but that was called back for an illegal receiver downfield as well.

The third quarter ended with Greenwood still up 21-7.

Seymour was on the Woodmen’s 18 to start the fourth quarter, but Gray threw an interception to Scotty Raker to eliminate any hopes of getting more points on that drive.

Greenwood took full advantage of its first takeaway of the game as Jackson Haessig found a hole up the middle and took it 61 yards to the house, giving the home team a 28-7 advantage with 10:30 to play.

Seymour got Greenwood back in the interception department as Henson picked off Riddle, but the Owls couldn’t muster anything up out of it.

Henson had a good day defensively, with a fumble recovery and interception.

“There’s a reason he’s a captain,” Moore said. “He does so much for us. He’s a leader.”

Greenwood was essentially able to run the clock out from there, but they added one more touchdown with 1:29 left as Riddle kept the ball up the middle for a 2-yard touchdown to help Greenwood secure its first win of the season.

Riddle finished the game 6-for-10 with 45 yards passing and two touchdowns. Campbell had four catches for 34 yards and two TD’s, Haessig had 22 rushes for 184 yards and Burnett had 16 carries for 77 yards.

For Seymour, Gray went 9-for-19 with 117 yards passing, and Perry went 1-for-5 with seven yards. Pennington caught 6 balls for 57 yards, Rennekamp 2-for-31, Nick Wheeler 1-for-11 and Hileman 1-for-25.

Next week, the Owls (0-1) will open at home against Jeffersonville, who did not play last night.

“I love Will and Bret to death, but we missed some throws that were there,” Moore said. “I need to find out who my starting quarterback is. You gotta see what part of the double-edged sword you want to swallow and go from there.”

Game stats

Owls; 7

Woodmen; 35

Seymour (0-1);0;7;0;0;—;7

Greenwood (1-0);7;14;0;14;—;35

First quarter

G: Carter Campbell 17 pass from Brock Riddle (Jens Hvid kick), 3:25

Second quarter

G: Alan Burnett 1 run (Hvid kick), 10:48

G: Campbell 7 pass from Riddle (Hvid kick), 2:52

SHS: Josh Rennekamp 24 pass from Will Gray (Jack Pennington kick), 1:46

Fourth quarter

G: Jackson Haessig 61 run (Hvid kick), 10:30

G: Riddle 2 run (Hvid kick), 1:29

INDIVIDUAL SHS STATISTICS

Rushing: Alex Schlatterer 12-28, Nick Wheeler 6-18, Bret Perry 4-15, Gray 2-minus 8.

Passing: Gray 9 for 19, 117, 1 TD, 1 INT; Perry 1 for 5, 7 yards

Receiving: Jack Pennington 6-57, Rennekamp 2-31, Wheeler 1-11, Kyle Hileman 1-25