NEW ALBANY — Defense was the story on Friday night as the Owls and Bulldogs battled it out in the second to last week of the 2024-25 football regular season.

Seymour set the tone early with a forced fumble from Jackson Brock on the opening offensive snap for New Albany.

The Bulldogs scored the following possession and that would be the last time they scored as Seymour executed when needed on the offensive side of the ball, getting rushing touchdowns from Mikey Wright and Nick Wheeler, spoiling senior night with a 14-7 victory over New Albany.

Head Coach Tyson Moore was pleased with his defense once again after another stellar performance.

“The defense played really well tonight keeping us in the game,” Moore said. “The back half of this season they have really turned it up a notch. Defensively we are playing our best football at the right time and creating a lot of momentum.”

Seymour gave up a 5-yard rushing touchdown to Klay Kaiser in the first quarter, but never allowed another score and dominated the line of scrimmage.

The Owls were supposed to punt on their scoring drive in the first half, but an encroachment penalty from New Albany extended the drive and proved to be costly for the Bulldogs.

Wright then found his way into the endzone with 38 seconds left in the second quarter. The extra point would be blocked as the Bulldogs preserved a 7-6 lead at halftime.

The second half was a lot of the same, except New Albany didn’t score.

Jaylan Johnson made a huge play in the fourth quarter, jumping over the defender and snagging the ball, gaining 30 yards.

The huge gain set up the game winning score later in the quarter.Wheeler then found his way into the end zone to take the lead for good in the fourth quarter.

Wright converted the two-point try to make it 14-7.

Even though it was not the best night on offense, Seymour got the job done when they had too. Coach Moore spoke on the output on offense from the Owls.

“Offensively we sucked, no easy way to put it. We had way too many miscues tonight at all 11 positions,” Moore said. “It Seemed like we were waiting for things to happen instead of making them happen. For most of the night we were a step behind. But we found a way to win, and we gutted that out.”

He spoke about his veteran players making plays at the right time on Friday.

“Our oldest guys who have played a lot of football took the game over at the right time and just played football,” Moore said. “We will go back to work on correcting the sloppy play but getting the level of execution we had that last drive is going to be key to future success.”

Mitchell Mellencamp had a very active night on the football field, playing offense and defense, and putting New Albany in bad field position all night because of his punting abilities.

The senior was burying the Bulldogs deep in their own territory on every attempt it seemed like.

Coach Moore spoke about the performance in all aspects of the game for Mellencamp.

“Mitch is just a dude. He is all over the field on defense, and had a huge interception for us,” Moore said. “Big blocks on offense that helped our short yardage run game. But his punts have been huge this year. I have never had a kid punt the ball like he has and completely flipped the field the way we were able to tonight. He’s had more 60-yard punts than I’ve ever seen before, flat out impressive.”

The Owls will host Bloomington South in their final home game of the regular season next Friday at Bulleit Stadium. The game will begin at 7 p.m.

Week 8 — New Albany

Owls 14, Bulldogs 7

Seymour (4-4); 0; 6; 0; 8;

New Albany (3-5); 7; 0; 0; 0;

Scoring Summary:

First Quarter

NA: Klay Kaiser 5-yard rushing touchdown (Dixon PAT Good), 7-0

Second Quarter

S: Mikey Wright 5-yard rushing touchdown (Fox PAT Blocked), 7-6

Fourth Quarter

S: Nick Wheeler 2-yard rushing touchdown (Wright 2pt conversion), 14-7