Running with the ball after the double reverse hand off, Jaylan Johnson tries to gain some yardage during the away game at Bloomington South last season.
Greg Jones | For The Tribune
Seymour pulled out a 14-7 victory last Friday in New Albany, shutting down the Bulldogs throughout the contest. The Panthers (4-4) are coming off a shootout loss to Brebeuf Jesuit in a wild 68-57 game.
Owls head coach Tyson Moore spoke about the fight from the group in the seven-point win.
“Obviously we didn’t play our best football on Friday, but the most important thing is that we did what we needed to in order to get a victory,” Moore said. “You can walk out with a win and make changes and take the negatives from the game a lot easier. As opposed to trying to fix a lot of stuff after a loss. Our guys showed a lot of fight, especially when they needed to, and our defense played outstanding. I thought our offense gutted it out when we had too and that was a key factor in the outcome of the game.”
The Owls (4-4) are facing their toughest task of the season on Friday night as incoming Bloomington South heads to Bulleit Stadium, finishing the 2024 regular season.
Coach Moore knows it will be a challenge
“They will be the best team by far that we play all regular season,” Moore said. “They are a good football team, their record is a little deceiving, sitting at 4-4. They’ve been in some tough matchups, and they do a lot of things really well.”
Moore spoke about the Panthers on both sides of the football.
“Offensively they are very explosive and have the ability to run and throw the football,” he said. “Defensively, they have some really good tacklers and are a very disciplined team. They have many new starters on the defense, but they’ve gotten a lot better over the year and have shown a lot of growth. We know that we will have to come out and play our best football to give us a shot to beat these guys.”
Seymour will have to worry about South’s Braylen Townsend, who is second in Class 5A with 1,305 rushing yards. That is also the ninth most in the entire state of Indiana. The Panthers have a sophomore QB in Duncan Combs, who is 6’6, and has thrown for 1,270 yards and 14 passing touchdowns this season.
Mikey Wright has thrown for 883 yards and 7 touchdowns. He also has seven on the ground. Jaylan Johnson leads the team in receiving yards with 456 on 29 receptions, scoring 4 touchdowns through the air.
On defense, Mason Nugent has 27 tackles for loss. Seven Owls including Nugent have at least 6 tackles for loss during this season; Bradyn Riley, Will Mahoney, Noah Broughton, Mitchell Mellencamp, Curtis Burke, and Johnson are the other players.
The coach spoke on why he feels the team has played so well on that side of the football in 2024.
“They’ve played a lot of football together,” Moore said. “Our defense is old; we have a lot of seniors in that front seven group and they’re very experienced and a veteran group. They take pride in the details and listen to the coaching. I think our defensive staff has done a phenomenal job this year of getting those guys ready to play. They just execute really well.”
He spoke on how the team plays to their strengths even if they’re not the biggest up front.
“A lot of times we go to games and we’re at a size disadvantage, but it doesn’t matter,” Moore said. “Our kids play fast and play hard and use their strengths to their advantage. Defensively, I think it’s a combination of four years and preparing to get to this point, and they’ve come out with a chip on their shoulder this year.”
Moore has 14 seniors who will take the field for their final regular season game. The coach wants the team to continue getting better as we progress through the year.
“I just want their regular season to end on a high note is one of the biggest things,” Moore said. “Going out there and performing well and being able to play their best that they’ve played all year. We talk often about the farther the season goes, the better our play is. We’re sitting at the time where we want to be playing our best football. I would love to see them go out, play free and play loose and execute on Friday night.”
The Owls learned about their postseason matchup on Sunday, drawing back-to-back Class 4A State Champion in East Central, who moved up to Class 5A due to the IHSAA Success Factor. The Trojans (6-2) host Indianapolis Roncalli on Friday and are currently on a five-game winning streak.
The coach said he would speak more about East Central next week when the time comes.