Tyson Moore, head football coach at Seymour High School, takes a lot of pride in the number of players that go on and play college football each year.

He has a lot to feel good about for the class of 2024 as Kyle Hileman and Hunter Wick are the latest players to announce their intensions to play in college, beginning this fall.

Both players are going east as Hileman plans to play at Thiel College, located in Greensville, that is located north of Pittsburgh, Pa., and Wick plans to play at Marietta College, that is located in southeast Ohio on the Ohio-West Virginia line.

Moore said he feels like both players made good choices, and how much they play at that level will be determined by how hard they work. Both played in the fifth and sixth grade elementary program, then two years in middle school and four years at Seymour High School.

“They are two guys that didn’t play a lot at the beginning of their career. They had to work to get to where they are at,” Moore said.

“I think a great characteristic of both of them, from a football aspect, is they never gave up,” he added. “They worked their butts off in the weight room. They got better on the field. As juniors and seniors they earned their way, earned their right to play varsity football.”

Moore has seen the growth of both players first hand.

“It’s been pretty cool to watch, it’s been fun to watch,” he said. “They were two of the of those vital pieces that we had in our program the last two years that saw a conference championship in 2022, and then were on the offensive side of the ball that just broke record after record it seemed every game (in 2023).”

Hileman was a wide receiver and had a big hand in a lot of those school records Moore walked about.

He was all-Hoosier Hills Conference last fall after being honorable mention his junior year. He was named the Owls most improved player his sophomore and junior seasons.

“Just a feeling of catching a ball for a big play is the best feeling in the world,” Hileman said. “You could put me on the left side, you could put me on the right side, but the left side is my favorite area,” he said of running pass patterns.”

“My favorite play is the ‘comeback and go,’ where I go up a couple yards, turn around and fake like you’re making a comeback screen, and then run up the field.”

He said he is 6-foot-2 and his playing weight last fall was 175. He weighs 170 in track this spring where he runs the 300 hurdles, 4×100 relay, high jump and 4×400 relay second team.

“I’d say the coaches made it so much fun,” Hileman said. “The coaches loved their players. That’s the best because whenever you make a big play usually the coaches were the first ones to come to congratulate you.

“They’ve helped me through a lot. They’ve helped me become the player and the man that I am today. All my thanks go to them.”

Hileman said, “The Thiel coach (Sam Bauman) reached out to me. He and I connected. He is very energetic about me being there and coming to visit. When I made my visit they made it feel like it was a one-on-one experience like they really wanted me there.

“Other colleges it didn’t feel like that and Thiel College made it feel like this could be home for the next four years.”

Thiel is NCAA Division III and plays mostly Pennsylvania colleges plus one Ohio school. The Tomcats were 3-7 last fall.

Hileman said two Seymour games are at the top of his list. “My junior year, the game-winning drive against Floyd Central. I had the game-winning catch. This year my favorite game was against Brownstown. There was a lot of smack talk going on there.”

Moore said, “The first part of his career, we couldn’t find a role for (Hileman) to fit into. We weren’t really sure what we were going to have. He continued to work hard and do things the right way and showed up every day and improved his mechanics.

“He had a lot of mental maturity and a lot of mental growth. He came out as a senior to be a major contributor with a receiver group that was already very, very good. I’m very excited for him. I know this means a lot to him.”

Wick said he initially planned to go to Marietta for engineering.

“Football was an afterthought.” Wick said Andy Waddle, the head coach at Marietta contacted him and asked him about playing football and after meeting the coaches he decided he would play for the NCAA Division III School.

Marietta’s enrollment is 1,100. The Pioneers were 8-2 last fall. He was a two-year starter for the Owls, playing tackle his junior year and center as a senior.

“I liked center better,” Wick said. “Blocking was second hand for me. I know how to do everything pretty well.”

He said his blocking assignments changed depending on if the opponent played a four-man or five-man front. “It depended if they had a middle linebacker and if he blitzed or not. I think I had pretty good quickness to go out and get my blocks.”

Wick said he enjoyed the home games. “They were cool. The home games were so nice. There is nothing like it.”

He spoke about his favorite part of those games.

“Winning and having fun,” he said. “I’ve been around and have known these player all my life so that was fun. It was nice to have that bond and friendship.”

Wick said his highlights were beating Columbus East in the sectional last year and helping the Owls win the HHC his junior year.

He wrestled one year and was on the track team his freshmen and sophomore years but concentrated on football the past two years. Wick said in order to play at Marietta he needs to get bigger and faster. He said his playing weight for the Owls was 209 and he wants to get up to 230-240 for Marietta.

Both athletes said they have enjoyed being students at SHS.

“It was fun. I enjoyed it,” Wick said. “I’m looking forward to the next four years at Marietta.”

Moore said, “If (Wick) continues to work on his fundamentals, and he stays in the weight room he definitely has the work ethic to do some good things.

“They played a big part, and as I kind of alluded to in the beginning, to see five guys move on to the college level this year is pretty cool so it is a very exciting times here for us.”

Earlier this spring Owen Kruse, Evan Royer and Jack Pennington announced their plans to play football at Hanover College.