Jaylan Johnson, right, eludes Braves defenders on the way to a Seymour touchdown during the annual Jackson Bowl game played Friday at Seymour.
Jaylan Johnson and his Seymour teammates will have long and pleasant memories of the 2023 Jackson Bowl.
Johnson was named Seymour’s homecoming king Friday night at Bulleit Stadium, then went out and scored two touchdowns to help the Owls defeat county rival Brownstown Central 41-20.
Seymour won 28-24 at Blevins Memorial Stadium last year after the Braves won the previous three Jackson Bowls.
Johnson, who set the single-game receiving yardage mark with 270 against Greenwood, had a lot of yards against the Braves after making the catch.
“Brownstown didn’t wrap up very well. It usually takes more than one to tackle me,” Johnson said.
Kyle Hileman’s 27-yard TD pass from Bret Perry came just 28 seconds before halftime to put the Owls on top for good, 20-14 at the break.
“That play gave us a lot of confidence going into the second half,” Johnson said. “We knew we couldn’t take the foot off the pedal because we’ve done that in the past and it has come back to bite us, so we knew we had to keep going, keep working, and I think it paid off.”
The Owls received the second-half kickoff and scored on Perry’s 15-yard pass to Johnson at the 10-minute mark of the third period, and Johnson gave kudos to Cam Wheeler for that score. Wheeler had a 46-yard run that set up the touchdown.
“I give Cam credit for that second touchdown of mine. He did all the work. I just cleaned it up,” Johnson said. “This feels amazing. My freshman year was my first time in the Jackson Bowl. The lights were bright and we got smoked. My sophomore year, it felt good, but it was my first game off from an injury, so I really didn’t get to experience it as much as I would have liked.”
Johnson caught two of Perry’s six touchdown passes. They teamed up for a 54-yard scoring play in the second period and on a 15-yard pass in the third period.
“This Jackson Bowl was amazing, and I loved every second of it,” Johnson said. “We are planning on winning out the rest of the regular season. We’re working hard. That is our goal 100%”
Perry also teamed with Logan Shelly on a 65-yard TD pass in the first quarter and 3- and 12-yard passes to Jack Pennington in the fourth period.
The six touchdown passes ties Perry with Austin Sutton’s school record for the most TD passes in a game. Sutton threw six against Evansville Harrison in 2012. Perry’s 32 completions broke his school record of 25 against Greenwood in the first game of this season.
Perry completed 11 passes to Pennington, 10 to Johnson, six to Hileman and five to Shelly.
“We knew they were going to try and keep everything in front of them, so we were just trying to take the shorter routes, whatever they would give us,” Perry said. “I just try to get the ball in our playmakers’ hands and let them make a play because I know any time one of our guys get the ball in their hands, something special is going to happen.”
Perry credited the defense for hard work as the Braves were forced to punt four times and scored only one touchdown over the final three quarters.
“I just know our guys trust the preparation,” Perry said. “They put the time in throughout the week, and it all paid off. This feels great because a lot of them (Braves) were talking some smack throughout the week, and I figured I would let my play do the talking, and sure enough, it did.”
The Owls are currently sitting at 3-3 on the season.
“We had a couple tough losses in the conference, but there is a lot of football left to be played, and I know we’re confident that we can definitely win these next two and keep it rolling into the sectional,” Perry said.
Perry also said Wheeler’s long run in the second quarter was critical.
“That was big for us because we were struggling to get the run game going, and that definitely helped out a lot. The O line does a great job,” he said.
Pennington put on a show with his double-digit reception performance. But the Jackson Bowl hasn’t always been the greatest to Pennington, who spoke about the 2021 matchup.
“Two years ago, I played in this game and broke my hand. It set me back a lot mentally and physically,” Pennington said. “Coming out here tonight, it was a surreal moment to get that victory. I loved to do it with all my brothers out here on the field. Our passing game was killing tonight. Our linemen did a heck of a job. They are the reason we won this game. They are the guys that should get all the credit.”
Pennington spoke about the offense and the fourth quarter.
“We set up some different pass patterns just for their defense. We tried it out, and it seemed to work.” he said. “A lot of 2A schools don’t give them a lot of competition. We came out here and we put the thump on them and got the work done.”
In the fourth period, the Braves were called for roughing the punter, Pennington. That penalty gave Seymour new life, and the Owls took advantage to score their final touchdown.
“I put on an act a little bit,” he said. “They hit me, and it hurt for a second, but then I was completely fine.”
The Owls play at Jennings County on Friday night and will host New Albany on Oct. 6.
“Those two opponents, I’ll give them credit. They have been pretty good opponents in the past, and we’re just going to have to come out and play our best football,” Pennington said.