After a devastating loss to Jeffersonville in the second week, the Owls are eager to get a Hoosier Hills Conference win in the third week of the 2024 season. The team struggled to move the ball consistently last week, particularly in running the football, compiling 35 yards on 19 carries.

It is still early in the season and another week is here, as Seymour (1-1) travels north to face Columbus East (0-2), hoping to get back over .500.

It is also the alma mater for current Seymour Head Coach Tyson Moore, who knows it will be a battle in the week 3 matchup.

“Columbus East is always a tough opponent for us, they are always one of the more disciplined teams we face all season long,” Moore said. “Plus being on the road at East is always a difficult place to play.”

The Owls got the better of the Olympians in both matchups last season, winning 41-26 in the regular season, before downing East in the sectional semifinal 39-20.

“In both games last season, it was a dogfight during most of those games and we had to do a lot of things well to get victories,” he said. “They are well coached, and they always create a tough atmosphere for visiting opponents.”

The game last week was the only Hoosier Hills Conference game to this point. The HHC has struggled a bit to open the season, Seymour, Jeffersonville, and New Albany are the only teams to get a win to this point.

East, Bedford North Lawrence, Jennings County, and Floyd Central are all seeking their first wins of the season on Friday.

Columbus East opened the season with a 21-point loss to Class 5A #9 Bloomington South in the opener, before getting beat 42-0 by Columbus North. The Olympians brought back their dual-threat QB from last season in junior Kyson Villarreal.

Seymour is looking to win their third straight matchup over Columbus East, the longest streak since Former Owls Head Coach Joe Goodman defeated East six straight times from 1996-2000.

The streak ended on Oct. 20 of 2000 in the opening sectional game, where the Olympians won 32-24. Since then, East has 22 wins over Seymour, including the postseason, while the Owls have six victories.

The Olympians have two state football titles during this stretch, which came in 2017 over Kokomo and 2013 over Fort Wayne Dwenger.

Coach Moore believes the Owls must be able to run the ball and get stops early and often on the defensive side of football to get their first HHC win of the 2024 season.

“We have to run the ball,” he said. “Blocking up front will also be critical, those were our weak spots against Jeffersonville last week. We did not do a good enough job of protecting Mikey (Wright). We’ve been improving this week on running the football.”

“If we can emulate a lot of what we did last week on defense we will be fine,” he said. We must not give up big plays. We must be able to establish the run, which will give us a great chance to be successful.